Out on November 26th is Will You Be There?, the new album from O’Connell and Love on the Mountmellick Music label, and we’re delighted to be able to premiere the video for the title track of the record right here on Backseat Mafia today.
Larry Love of South London’s Alabama 3, is perhaps best know for “Woke Up This Morning”, theme song of The Sopranos and its film prequel, The Many Saints of Newark. He’s collaborated with Brendon O’Connell since Alabama 3’s debut album – 1997’s Exile on Coldharbour Lane, and the released their first album as a duo with 2015’s Minesweeping.
On the new single, the pair say “Will You Be There? is the question that opens and runs throughout the track. Will you have the courage to stand up and be counted or “Will you hand in your hopes, saying brother this is too much of a hassle?”
This track emerged in a bar in Barcelona, watching a news report on kids living amongst the destruction of Aleppo, Syria. Apart from the haunting backing vocals from O’Connell, reminiscent of the wailing in Ghost Town by The Specials, there is a Latin feel to the song. an insistent Spanish guitar line from the onset and magic interplay between fiddle and trumpet in the instrumental section.”
The track itself has this folky-Latin feel, with a lilt that hits you hard in the feels, and is somehow made more evocative and more lovable by these gruff vocals that jar and scrape their way over the guitar led accompaniment in the most beautiful way, with the vocal swoons in the background only adding more beauty. The accompanying video sees the protagonists perform the song in a variety of places, with cinematic shots of cities and beaches the order of the day. Check it out, here:
Connect with O’Connell and Love at their website, on Facebook and on YouTube.
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