From the heart of England, and the glorious music culture of NYC comes the joint venture of solo recording artists Edward Rogers and Amanda Thorpe, whose songwriting partnership has thus far yielded two critically acclaimed albums released under their adopted name Bedsit Poets, bestowed upon them aptly by Beat 60s / The Zombies legend, Colin Blunstone sometime in the Noughties.
Combining the passion and energy of Patti Smith’s ‘Radio Ethiopia’, the songwriting and singing of Kevin Ayers ‘Shooting at the Moon’ with the pathos of Marianne Faithful; Bedsit Poets’ sound combines the best of all that is old with the very best that is new. Hints of electronica effortlessly blend with lounge tendencies, which meet English folk and a late seventies NYC scene.
On this, their third album ‘All Roads Lead Me Back’ there are slow gin jazz melodies like ‘Everything But’ layered perfectly among whimsical wistful delights like ‘London Town’ which nod towards reflective classics like ‘Scarborough Fair’ and Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’.
‘Come See About Me’ haunts and drives with it’s rolling bass and jilted vocal that harks toward Leonard Cohen, The Velvet Underground, St Etienne, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Glorious psych mellow madness enraptures the listener.
Previous Bedsit Poets releases, ‘The Summer That Changed’ and ‘Notel RendezVous’ received high praise, with the former being described by MOJO Magazine as “Heartaches & harmonies from a duo that knows their jingle from their jangle”.
For this latest release, the twists and turns of life brought Amanda back to the UK, after a blessed New York sojourn and both continued their musical projects, Amanda Thorpe as a solo artist, music therapist and NY Bushwick Book Club: London producer, and Edward Rogers, a solo artist, DJ at WFMU’s Rock ‘n’ Soul Radio and half of the duo, Rogers & Butler.
Over the years, Edward and Amanda continued to exchange lyrics and musical ideas, and in 2020 reunited to write new songs. After two years of transatlantic work, they came together in NYC to record with their long-time producer, Don Piper and a cast of stellar musicians resulting in a brand-new album, “All Roads Lead Me Back” which may be the Bedsit Poets best work to date.
Bedsit Poets’ band for ‘All Roads Lead Me Back’ includes an amazing selection of other prolific players known to be amongst the best in show, including James Mastro on guitar (Ian Hunter, The Bongos, John Cale), Sal Maida on bass (Roxy Music, Sparks) and Konrad Meissner on Drums (Silos, Graham Parker) and the record also includes superb guest parts from Joe McGinty (Psychedelic Furs, Ronnie Spector), Tony Scherr (Bill Frisell, Sex Mob, Laurie Anderson), Mac Randall and Yair Schleider. The result is an utterly outstanding album of lush tracks to be cherished in record collections alongside the best psychedelic pop albums of the decade and beyond.
