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Richard Walters returns with a brand new single and a brand new sound on November 15. ‘Where We Stand’ will be the first single from his second album, ‘Pacing’ (due early next year): the follow-up to Walters’ critically-acclaimed debut album, ‘The Animal’.
Sometimes you have to take one step back to move two steps forward. Richard Walters wrote much of his new album, ‘Pacing’, in 2007; two years before ‘The Animal’. But the 28-year-old singer-songwriter from Oxford never finished it because both he and his collaborator, ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, were diverted by other projects: a little-known Welsh girl called Duffy, for one thing, who went on to have the fourth biggest-selling album of 2008 worldwide. Walters, who had long-worshipped Butler’s work, pressed on with his own record, ‘The Animal’. However, when Butler contacted Walters again at the beginning of this year, they agreed that they had, quite literally, some unfinished business.
‘Where We Stand’ – with its driving rhythm, orchestral flare and proper Pop chorus – is the first glimpse of totally unchartered territory for Walters. Whereas ‘The Animal’ was softly spoken, largely acoustic and frequently introspective, his new songs are bigger in sound, and more immediate. Though there is a definite trace of Butler’s influence – both in the production, and the occasional riff – anyone hoping that Richard would suddenly do a ‘Rockferry’ might be slightly disappointed. There is the same narrative depth, vocal purity and emotional resonance across ‘Pacing’ that makes Walters so special: the only difference now is that he appears unafraid of coupling that with a bigger pop soundscape.
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