Martin Carr first made a name for himself in the early ’90s as the guitarist/songwriter of the Boo Radleys, whose Everything’s Alright Forever (1992), Giant Steps (1993) and Wake Up! (1995) remain essential listening from the Britpop era. The Boos disbanded in 1999, and Carr began releasing records under the bravecaptain moniker for the better part of a decade before issuing Ye Gods (And Little Fishes) under his own name in 2009. Carr is back with third solo LP New Shapes Of Life (Tapete), a compact, sophisticated and personal pop album inspired in part by the death of David Bowie. Carr will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week.
Carr: I’ve always been fascinated by old photographs, whether they’re of people or places. I am happy to look at anything but prefer it if it’s somewhere or something I know. Pictures of Wallasey and New Brighton, Liverpool, London and Cardiff. I have a box of photographs of my grandfather working in New York in the 1930s, my Dad as a tubby teddy boy in the early ’60s and my mum when she lived in California around the same time. I think they ground me. I’m distracted and dislocated, but looking at old photos give me a sense of continuity, that I am part of something, however cosmically insignificant.
More photos after the jump.
