Albums by Henry Bateman
Henry has been recording and releasing albums since the age of sixteen, with his sixth record coming later in 2023. All albums by Henry Bateman can all be purchased via Bandcamp, and streamed in all of the usual places.
A Ghost Inside
2021
A Ghost Inside marked a shift from my previous work. I had left music college, and was trying to work how to manoeuvre outside of that space. The band inevitably evolved. Notably, we had a change of drummer – which, in my experience, really affects the way arrangements develop. I think I had some frustration I wanted to let out, and turned to my replica of Brian May’s guitar for support.
A Ghost Inside marked a shift from my previous work. I had left music college, and was trying to work how to manoeuvre outside of that space. The band inevitably evolved. Notably, we had a change of drummer – which, in my experience, really affects the way arrangements develop. I think I had some frustration I wanted to let out, and turned to my replica of Brian May’s guitar for support.
Hamish, our new drummer, was a harder-hitter – and I think some magic happened there in the way his style met my emotions. I wrote a lot of songs for this record over the course of a couple of years, and we would rehearse them in small rehearsal rooms after work on a Tuesday.
There’s something that happens when working people get together in the evenings to make music. I remember it from church choir rehearsals as a kid, or leading ukulele groups now; there’s a palpable catharsis. I think we captured some of that. I wanted to get a way from dense arrangements, and do something that was raw, unpolished, and guttural. I was listening to a lot of early work by bands like The Police, Rush and Queen; I wanted that raucousness.
A Ghost Inside was also the first album that I completely self-produced, though I have to admit Tim’s mixes really brought some of these tracks to life.
Throwing & Catching
2017
Throwing & Catching was made during my first couple of years studying Popular Music Composition at Leeds College of Music. I had read Trevor Dann’s biography of Nick Drake and I was really struck by this character who called out into the world, and got nothing back. It resonated with me; the fear of that happening, as someone in their late teens putting all of their energy into a career in music. That core concept, adapted in different ways, inspired a lot of songs. That’s what ‘Throwing & Catching’ became about; sending and receiving signals.
Throwing & Catching was made during my first couple of years studying Popular Music Composition at Leeds College of Music. I had read Trevor Dann’s biography of Nick Drake and I was really struck by this character who called out into the world, and got nothing back. It resonated with me; the fear of that happening, as someone in their late teens putting all of their energy into a career in music. That core concept, adapted in different ways, inspired a lot of songs. That’s what ‘Throwing & Catching’ became about; sending and receiving signals.
The theme of grief runs through my first three albums like a stick of rock. A close friend passed away whilst I was writing this album, and so there are a few of songs on here which I feel very connected to, written in the immediate aftermath of that event. It’s also the first album to feature my band, a core group of musicians who would become the bedrock of my arrangements and sound for the next few years.
I think, in the midst of some very serious songs, you can hear the fun we were having putting these songs together. This is very audible on ‘At The Water’s Edge’. It also marked the start of my collaboration with Tim Goddard, the producer who is responsible for breathing life into several of my records.
Splendid Isolation
2022
This was what I got up to in those initial COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. I was completely isolated from the world, on my own in a house in West Yorkshire, for about three months. I just wrote and wrote. In a way that was similar to being a student, I found myself able to really immerse myself in music, dig into things, and develop ideas at speed. Time is a wonderful thing when you have it.
This was what I got up to in those initial COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. I was completely isolated from the world, on my own in a house in West Yorkshire, for about three months. I just wrote and wrote. In a way that was similar to being a student, I found myself able to really immerse myself in music, dig into things, and develop ideas at speed. Time is a wonderful thing when you have it.
I had written a lot of songs, many of which I intended to include, simply because I’d developed them all to such a degree that most of them, I thought, were pretty good. I turned to Jacob Clarke, a friend who I hadn’t worked with before, to see if I could get into his studio to record a few things. Jacob immediately suggested that he jump into the producing chair, and so we very much worked together on bringing this album to life from the recording upwards. The biggest impact Jacob had on this album, outside of the sound of it, was to restrict me to including just six tracks. I had to be very selective; but, I think, this made the record stronger.
The pandemic had brought down the final hammer on my band; people had been forced to relocate and reprioritise. Conversely, I became excited about the prospect of making a record which whoever I wanted, not needing to think about how it would translate live. I wanted to get Greg Burns back on drums for these songs (the original drummer in my band). Frazer (bass), Chris (keys) and Hannah (vocals), who are at the core of most of music, also feature heavily. I enjoyed being able to get into orchestration in a big way whilst making this record; there are some arrangements here I’m really proud of.
I love this album. It feels like the end of something, and the start of something too; it really projects the transitional stage of life I was in.
Hide & Seek
2019
Hide & Seek is the sound of my final year at Leeds College of Music, and predominantly deals with a cast of interesting characters who find themselves stuck in small spaces. I think this album has some of my strongest songs and arrangements on it.
Hide & Seek is the sound of my final year at Leeds College of Music, and predominantly deals with a cast of interesting characters who find themselves stuck in small spaces. I think this album has some of my strongest songs and arrangements on it.
I really challenged myself as a songwriter, tackling some difficult concepts with some tricky techniques. Texturally, it’s incredibly varied – I think you can hear how much time I had to immerse myself in music, and wander down different paths with things.
The first incarnation of my band was at its apex here too; we had really gelled. We were all final year students at music college, and all at the top of our game. I love this record; I can listen to it without too much trouble.
Take A Form
2015
Take A Form is the sound of me in my late teens, surrounded by a lot of musical compadres, and followed on from the release my first EP ‘Open Arms’ in 2013.
Around this time, I was feeling an unease with the way in which songs tend to be presented as one, singular, polished version. My feeling has always been that, if songwriters could be more open about their processes, it would democratise the thing a bit.
Take A Form is the sound of me in my late teens, surrounded by a lot of musical compadres, and followed on from the release my first EP ‘Open Arms’ in 2013.
Around this time, I was feeling an unease with the way in which songs tend to be presented as one, singular, polished version. My feeling has always been that, if songwriters could be more open about their processes, it would democratise the thing a bit.
Maybe, if songs were viewed as journeys, rather than as end points, more people would write. So – with this record, I tried to do embody that. The first couple of songs are quite stripped back, a bit demo-like; these songs hadn’t changed much since the first few hours of their existence. Then, the middle part of the album is a bit more produced and polished; these songs had travelled a bit further, sonically. The last chunk of the album was recorded as part of a gig; as live performance is one way in which songs continue to exist and evolve.
Looking back on this album, I think it’s bold. It’s mostly unedited. For the reasons outlined above, I felt uneasy about presenting a ‘perfected’ version of myself. The thing I enjoy most about this record is the sheer amount of people playing on it; it’s a combination of family, friends and teachers. It really is the sound of the musical world I was surrounded by at this point in my life.
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