Songs Sung
Evening Times 27th November 2014
DEACON Blue are set for a break - but not before they roll into the Clyde
Auditorium for two nights next week.
The group has enjoyed a packed year,
from releasing eighth album A New House to playing at the closing ceremony of
the Commonwealth Games, and that means they'll be focusing on other things in
2015.
"We definitely won't be touring next year," explains singer
Lorraine McIntosh, ahead of their Armadillo stint on Monday and Tuesday.
"I also can't keep taking on acting jobs and then saying 'Oh, but I'm not
available these months of the year' and we can't sustain touring year after
year."
The band has been prolific over the past few years. 2012 brought
their first new album in over a decade, The Hipsters, marking a return to the
classic Deacon Blue sound of catchy tunes and thoughtful lyrics that first shot
the band to fame in the 1980s.
This year saw A New House released,
another fine record that confirmed the band is back at its best. "I think it all
comes down to Ricky (Ross), the creativity comes from him in the music that we
make," says Lorraine, referring the group's singer (and also her husband). "From
writing one song, The Hipsters, a whole album flowed and from there it was a
like a channel opened. "For a long time he'd found it difficult to write
for Deacon Blue - he'd been writing for other acts for a while, and when he came
down to write for us, he thought, "I can't do this any more, I can't think what
we sound like."
"Then he lost that, and went back to the beginning,
which was just writing a song, taking it to the band and seeing what they made
of it." That's resulted in the band being back in the public eye, aided by
appearances at events like the Commonwealth Games this summer. "It didn't
really feel like a gig because it was just one song, it was more like an event.
I was really chuffed to be part of it," recalls Lorraine. "I was doing a
play at the Tron and was right in the heart of Glasgow every day during the
Games, with all the good weather, and I felt so proud of Glasgow."
Both
Lorraine and Ricky were also involved in Scotland's other massive event in 2014,
as they campaigned for a Yes vote in the referendum. Although disappointed
with the outcome, it hasn't dampened Lorraine's passion for change.
"It
was a very sad day for me on September 19, but with retrospect I think it's been
brilliant for Scotland, and there's a legacy of a country waking up and
realising the power that's in our hands. "Scotland voted no, so people
like me who voted yes can't be bitter about it. We have to accept that's what
the majority of people wanted, but I live in the hope that it'll happen some
day."
Back to musical matters, and Lorraine reckons one big change is
that she has a better understanding of how to use her voice. "I've reached the
conclusion that I've oversung on many Deacon Blue songs," she says. "I
love singing with someone else. I've never wanted to be a lead singer, but I now
feel much more confident about how I sing and the type of backing vocals that I
do. "When you get to this age you need to know who you are or you never will."