Joanna After “Brother” and “The Wait,” A Permanent Shadow are set to release the third single from their current album “No Leaf Clover.” The single edit of “I Hate Myself” will be available from April 26th and comes with an AI assisted videoclip which sees the band play on as a politician who minutes before managed to vow the audience with his promises and lies is being taken down by members of the crowd.
“I Hate Myself” talks about political disenchantment and depicts the typical cycle in which a new face fills the weary majority with new ideas and promises and makes them believe that a real change is about to come, only to let them down shortly after being elected by indulging in the same mix of corruption, nepotism and abuse of power as displayed by his or her predecessors.
Musically, “I Hate Myself” combines programmed beats with a guitar line reminiscent of early Simple Minds. The song’s up-tempo feel belies its gloomy lyrics. “The title could be misleading, it’s not a song about self-hate but rather about being angry with yourself for letting someone fool you again,” comments CP Fletcher, A Permanent Shadow’s vocalist. “It’s a protest song inspired by The Who which reeks of resignation and anger about the same old, same old which we can witness repeatedly in our everyday lives. Living examples are Trump, Meloni, Milei and so many others that managed to make people feel enthusiastic about politics again, but once they are in power, everything they stood for during elections seems to vanish and the only thing they seem to care about is themselves.”
“No Leaf Clover” was released on March 15th and has received some positive feedback both from the media and the audience. A Permanent Shadow are currently working on a new covers EP which will be out in late 2024. For more information, please visit www.apermanentshadow.com
A Permanent Shadow is a band for want of a better description. Its only fixture is CP Fletcher who for his recordings surrounds himself with a rotating cast of musicians and producers. Albert Català, a classically trained piano player, helps CP whip the demos into shape. The finishing touches in the studio are usually provided by renowned producer Valentín Nieto. Both albums “Songs of Loss” (2019) and “Humdrum” (2022) as well as the EP “UnderCovers” (2022) and the new LP “No Leaf Clover” (2024) were recorded at Barcelona’s Mini Blind Studios.
CP took his first steps as a front man forming a Lou Reed tribute project, The Magic and Loss Orchestra. Such is his admiration for the curmudgeon from New York that the tribute experience ended up bleeding into A Permanent Shadow via a cover of “Sword of Damocles”, originally featured on Reed’s Magic and Loss album and included on “Songs of Loss” in a reworked form.
A Permanent Shadow’s music is a blend of old and new. The songs draw from the likes of Iggy Pop, Scott Walker, Gary Numan and Nine Inch Nails as well as Editors and LCD Soundsystem, encompassing post-punk, funk-punk and synth-pop.
