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Cobain Jones: Realistic Dreams
(Crowswood Records)
DL | Streaming
Out Now
Stalybridge’s finest Cobain Jones releases single Realistic Dreams produced by James Dean Bradfield
Good things do happen to good people and here is proof. It’s been around 18 months since we covered Cobain’s debut Real Estate EP on Louder Than War. Since then the talented youngster has been busy writing; studying music production at University of Huddersfield and honing his stage craft with support slots with luminaries such as Paul Weller. One thing for sure is that Cobain isn’t afraid of hard graft.
With new release Realistic Dreams he has the privilege of being the first musician that Manic Street Preachers singer James Dean Bradfield has produced outside of the band for nearly 20 years. The young electrifying singer-songwriter was invited down to record his EP at the Manics’ studio in Newport with Bradfield. Although there is the spirit of the Welsh Legends in the recording the track is very much Cobain’s. “James was very adamant that the song stayed mine and that I took charge of the creative decisions,” says Cobain. “He told me: ‘This is your song, it’s your moment.’ James knows what he wants, but was open to my ideas – so long as you know what you’re talking about. He took me in and he was totally sound. He makes a cracking brew, too.” (Coffee, white no sugar for me please James!)
The track is inspired by Cobain’s mistrust of the beauty ideals portrayed by social media and “15 years of Kardashian bullshit,” as he explains: “Kylie Jenner has teams of beauticians and the best cosmetic surgeon in the world. Getting lip fillers from some guy in Ashton-under-Lyne isn’t the same and doesn’t do anyone any favours. People are naturally beautiful.”
This is the first track an EP which also promises the bittersweet relationship saga Endless Chapters, with Cobain revealing: “I was in love with my first girlfriend when I started writing it, but we’d split up when I was writing the end. It’s the history of a romance, about how you had a lot of fun but it’s best to leave it in the past.” He’s also recorded a shivering cover of Bob Marley’s Coming In From The Cold. On this one Cobain notes: “I initially wanted to do a rock version but, when I got on the piano, that song just worked; but Bob Marley is so amazing, most of his songs will work brilliantly no matter how you tackle them, if you try to be yourself while you’re singing.”
Hopefully when the EP is fully released there will be some gigs too, he’s building up a great repertoire of tunes with a variety of influences, The Cribs, Stone Roses, The Beatles and Manic Street Preachers to name a few.
Cobain Jones is a name to remember. He is destined to be a musician. One listen to the fire in his songs and it’s clear that destiny is set for the biggest stage.
To find out more about Cobain, visit YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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All words by Iain Key. See his Author Profile here author’s archive or on Twitter as @iainkey.
