A Million Things – Shiloh Clarke and friends
by Pete Clemons
It's fair to say that it has been a good while since some of the protagonists involved with this song have had a bona fide hit single. Yes they have had their fair share of success over the years. And they have traded on those past glories, very successfully. More recently they have produced some very fine new music. But in terms of chart success that new music has not hit the heights of past achievements.
Movies have been made about veteran artists having an amazing swansong in an already successful career. And here it could be for real. Start with a trio of the 2 tone genre's all-time greats: Neol Davies (The Selecter) on guitar, Horace Panter (The Specials) bass, and drummer Charley ‘Aitch’ Bembridge (The Selecter). Completing the roster is Andy 'Shiloh' Clarke, arguably one of the finest voices around these parts. Finally a lyric writer of some prowess, namely Leigh Malin, possibly more well known for his saxophone playing. It really does feel like something of a dream team has emerged. And it doesn't end there. Grammy award winning producer Roger Lomas has sprinkled his magic into the mix by giving the song the most powerful of openings. Add these ingredients together and I hear no reason why 'A Million Things' should not repeat those past successes and hit those heady heights once more. Shiloh Clarke is a Coventry born reggae stalwart.
From his Spotify page Shiloh has 'mastered the art of creating good vibe melodies that are intact with reggae's roots for considering the environment'. Shiloh has had considerable success recently with his own song 'Freedom Will Reign'. Leigh Malin, in his own words has 'been around a bit so far as performing and recording goes. I’ve played on two of 'The Specials albums', two Lee 'Scratch' Perry albums, one of which won the Grammy award in the reggae category (Jamaican E.T) in 2002 and the final album of Manchester band Puressence, amongst others. In terms of performing, I’ve played with The Selecter, The Beat, The Specials, Hazel O’Connor, Carleen Anderson, Dave & Ansell Collins, Judy Collins, Carol Decker, Brian Eno, UB40 and too many others to remember'. Interestingly Leigh also mentions that 'I’ve noticed in recent years, there’s quite a lot of anger and aggression in the lyrics of songs that play on daytime radio.
I associate hearing music more with positive feelings, although that's not to say lyrics shouldn’t project a serious message'. 'A Million Things' was initially written 12 or so years ago. Despite the misgivings of his wife who loved the words the lyrics were shelved by Leigh. The song, it seems, was always intended to have a reggae vibe to it. And it was Shiloh Clarke, who Leigh has known and worked with since the early 1990s, that encouraged Leigh to work up a demo of the song. After writing and performing for many years any success for 'A Million Things' will hopefully give Leigh the confidence to continue writing and for him to maybe delve deeper into his back catalogue of lyrics. Also adding their talents to 'A Million Things' are Tony Mullins (of UB40) on keys, Shiloh's sister - Sofia Jones - on vocals, James Morgan on steel pan, Steve Holdway Trombone and Paul Daleman on Trumpet.
When asked, Shiloh Clarke said that 'he heard the potential in the tune. He heard something in it and was attracted to it. He tweaked the lyric slightly particularly on the second verse'. As with 'Freedom Will Reign', that featured Neville Staple and tackles climate change, Shiloh wants to highlight the issues of the world right now. At the same time Shiloh recognised that there was a distinctive Coventry sound and really wanted to recreate it. To do that he had to engage musicians that had created that sound originally. But he wanted to incorporate the lyrics of today. Shiloh's vision is to create that unique Coventry Sound but flourish it with modern lyrics that attempt to highlight what he sees as the current issues within the world today. In doing so, something truly special has happened here.
I do not say this lightly but, for me genuinely, given the right exposure, this song has massive hit written all over it. If there is such a thing as The Coventry Sound then the complete package has been, quite brilliantly, captured here. As I write these notes I do not know in what formats, or from where, 'A Million Things' will be released to download but it will be available from September 23rd.
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