Kingsley Chapman's Wild Middlesbrough Night - And The Resulting 'Poison Tongues'

After disbanding the former Chapman Family and going into a period of hibernation, now he's back there's no keeping Kingsley Chapman away. Following his majestic return with 'Olympians' last month, now with The Murder in tow he unveils the next part in his new "musical adventure": ‘Poison Tongues’.

One of the most refreshing things about Kingsley and his work is that he is not one of those high-faluting artists who want to keep all their inspiration hidden and refuse to discuss anything. Ask Kingsley and you'll get not a monosyllabic reply, but a full, in detail essay.

‘Poison Tongues’ is a dark, brooding tale of anger and brutality, the kind seen on our town and city streets every weekend after pub chucking out time. Not perhaps as immediately attention-grabbing as 'Olympians', but one with its sinister, avant garde piano, building brass sounds and Kingsley’s own darkly delivered vocal, that is commanding in a less obvious way.



When we asked for a breakdown of 'Poison Tongues' inception, Kingsley explains thus: "The song is about a pretty nasty fight I witnessed in Middlesbrough that felt like I was in
the Wild West. Bodies flinging themselves (and being flung) out of a pretty ropey bar in the centre of town all hurling themselves at each other in an insanely violent way. I remember seeing a few of them getting battered on the pavement and imagined an angel coming down to comfort them as the blood was spilling out of their bodies, helping them on their way. The fight could have been about anything - a spilt pint, an unwelcome advance at a girlfriend... but the whole insignificance of it all was the thing that hit home. That is to say, the ignorance of the preciousness of life as people battered each other to smithereens.

"I'm an absolute pacifist and will always try to argue my way out of difficult or imposing situations by logic or by playing the fool. It's easier not to get hit than get hit in my opinion and it's perplexed me throughout my whole life as to why people would prefer to be violent than battle situations with intelligence. The song is based around my romantic obsession with the violence of others."

The one thing we still await word on is where Kingsley has opted to place his Bowie point in this track if at all). As he revealed in our previous feature here, in discussing 'Olympians' he acknowledged the Bowie references in it, adding: "I've put Bowie references in pretty much every song I've ever recorded." We're still hunting for a clue in 'Poison Tongues'; take a listen to the track above and see if you can spot it.

Catch Kingsley Chapman & The Murder back in Middlesbrough on May 16 when they support Frankie & The Heartstrings at The Westgarth Social Club.