You may know Philip Selway as the world renowned drummer of Radiohead…now he is also a solo recording artist. The seeds of Selway’s solo album were to a degree planted back in 2001 when Neil Finn (of Crowded House and solo fame) organised an impromptu gathering of talent, including Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Selway, in aid of charity. The resulting album - “7 Worlds Collide” - was credited to Neil Finn and Friends, but when he revived the project in 2008 the singing/songwriting was divided among the ranks, which also now included members of Wilco. As the ensemble beavered away on three floors of Finn’s Auckland studio, Philip came up with “The Ties That Bind Us”, with which he made his singing debut (as a lead vocalist), in Auckland in January, 2009. That song, and an earlier number, “The Witching Hour”, were recorded for 7WC’s “The Sun Came Out” album, released in August of that year.

Back home, Selway asked Courtyard Studios’ resident engineer and producer Ian Davenport to help produce the forthcoming sessions. Then Selway invited Germano, Steinberg, Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Sansone to come and make a record with him. Selway writes ballads not defined by folk, but something much wider and more contemporary. Curiously, there’s very little defined drums in many of his songs, with more percussive loops/textures. Sometimes the beats and instrumental colours are so subtle, it sounds like the acoustic air in the room is setting the mood. It leaves space for the lyrics, which clearly come from the most intimate of places. Selway’s debut album “Familial” is released 30th August on Bella Union records.