Stranger Comes to Town

After the release of The Quality of Mercy in 2005, Harley continued to write and record new material (primarily demos). In January 2007, Harley and the band entered the recording studio and plans for a new studio album were announced with a possible spring 2008 release.[1][2] The album's working title was "Wide Screen", with an alternative being "The Road Home".[3] Although the proposed album did not come to fruition, Harley continued writing.[4] Later in March 2009, he revealed in his online diary that a contractual issue had delayed a new album: "Finally wrapped up a contract wrangle which has kept me sometimes awake and regularly disturbed for almost three years. Cost me a great deal in all sorts of energies and resources to end this loathsome arrangement, but I knew in my heart I had to sort it."[5]

Intending to soon enter the studio,[6] Harley commented of his unfinished song ideas and demo recordings: "The notes are there, in notebooks and on scraps of mini-disc. Tunes and couplets, simple rhymes and deeper thoughts all jumbled, randomly acquired and noted over the past few years. There is only one way I will collate it all into coherent songs, and that is by booking a recording studio."[6] Harley and his band Cockney Rebel spent a month at Leeders Farm Residential Studios, Norfolk, in September–October 2009.[7] Harley would typically spend 12 or more hours a day working on the album.[8] In October 2009, he commented in a diary entry:

"Slightly shattered. Ten tracks recorded, some sung, others waiting for lyrics. It's like jet-lag. Coming down from the mad rushes of adrenalin that go with the producing/recording process. Been living-in at a residential recording studio. Odd to get up and share breakfast with the band. Odd, too, to share the dinner table each night, but they are all decent blokes and easy to get along with. I'm the one with the swimming head, tunes and words, production plans all juggled at the same time, so I'm the distant one over the boiled eggs and soldiers."[9]

During their residency at Leeders Farm, the band spent most mornings rehearsing around the studio's kitchen table.[9] Due to other professional commitments, guitarist Robbie Gladwell was absent for much of the recording, leaving Barry Wickens to cover the electric guitar parts on half of the album.[9][10] By the end of October, nine songs were nearing completion and the remainder of the year saw Harley spend more time in the studio to finish the album, including recording vocals and mixing the tracks.[11] In a November diary entry, he revealed: "Stranger Comes to Town, new CD, likely to be released early May. Got 10 new songs. Three of them are co-written with various guys. Tunes only. Not words. Only wish any one of them had a literary bent, too. The lyrics have been the toughest part, as usual."[12]

By the end of the year, the album was almost complete, except for the remixing of a couple of songs, as well as the choosing of the album's running order.[13] Talks began with record label representatives over the album's release in January 2009.[14] With the finishing touches completed in that month, the album was mastered in February by Denis Blackham at Skye Mastering.[7] In March, Harley announced that the Absolute label was to handle the album's distribution, while "Faith & Virtue" was announced as the album's lead single.[15] Stranger Comes to Town, as well as the lead single, was released at the beginning of May 2010. The album reached #187 in the UK Albums Chart, as well as #20 on the UK Independent Albums Chart.[16][17] Later in June, a second single, "For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn", was also released.[18] To promote the album, Harley and Cockney Rebel embarked on a UK-based tour in late May, which included performances at the Isle of Wight Festival and Glastonbury Festival. The tour continued into June, and also included a few concerts in Norway and one in Denmark. Later in October, the band toured Europe.[19]

Speaking to Classic Rock in May 2010, Harley summarised the album: "The essence of the stories on this album is the 'Stranger' bit. That's the mystery. It's a metaphor, an allegory for modern life and invasions of privacy and all the things that have entered into the Western world and ruined it."[20] In an interview with The Bolton News, Harley described the album as "a sort-of protest album", adding: "I'm sick of the greedy people running the country and the fact that everything is being dumbed down."[21]

In an interview for The York Press, Harley commented further on the album's theme, describing it as being like "a state-of-the-nation report":

"I'm not a Grumpy Old Man but... what's happening to this country? I don't like the dumbing-down from the moment our Prime Minister said 'Call me Tony'. I've been angry ever since. Kids are growing up in a world where there's no deference. What was wrong with 'sir' or 'madam'? The album is a new-fashioned protest album. It's not Blowin' in the Wind or Masters of War, but deep down, what are we coming to?"[22]

Describing the album as a "true labour of love",[23] as well as being "hard work",[24] Harley described the album's development and style to Acoustic Magazine: "I've reverted to the type where you've got rather simple acoustic tunes, but with poetical lyrics and mysterious stories mixed in with the more bizarre production kind of things. I've come back to the young man that set out in the early '70s with a lot of ambition and no inhibitions. In the studio I got into my own mindset. I was just having fun in the studio."[24] In The York Press, he added: "I've had five years of ripping my own ears off. It really doesn't get any easier. It's not the tune that's difficult, it's the words that are a struggle – and like John Lennon said, 'it's not about filler words'. You never rest as a songwriter. You're always looking for the muse to come and sit on your shoulder, and I can't take the stress. Well, every five years, I can... though this might be the last one. I've so much to say on this album."[22]

Speaking of the album's title, Harley stated it referred to "a man who feels estranged from what is going on around him". He added in The York Press: "I borrowed it. When I was up in Norfolk we went to a village pub to get the stress off with a pint of Guinness, and we heard these two people say 'Stranger Comes to Town'. They asked, 'What are you doing here, Steve?', so I gave them a line from Eccles in The Goons: 'Everyone has to be somewhere'."[22]

"Take the Men & the Horses Away" is an anti-war song, speaking of the UK's involvement in the Afghanistan and Iraq war. Harley had written the chorus several years beforehand, but never completed the song. After playing the chorus to the rest of the band, the song developed into the track that was recorded for the album. Four members of Cockney Rebel received co-writing credits.[9] Before the album's release, "This Old Man" was previewed to fans in November 2009, after Harley uploaded a short piece of footage to his website, showing the band rehearsing the song in the studio.[25]

"True Love Will Find You in the End" is a cover of the 1984 song by American singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, from his Retired Boxer album.[26] Harley chose to record the song after requesting ideas from fans on his official website forum. Harley commented in a diary entry from November 2009: "The pointer towards Daniel Johnston by Graeme is indeed welcome. Had all but forgotten the self-proclaimed "rejected unknown". Maybe too many have covered the beautiful, poignant "Story of an Artist" – irresistible, as it is – for me to attack it so late in its life. Maybe. But "True Love Will Find You In The End" is less exposed. Maybe that one."[27] The song was recorded in December 2009, and was the last to be recorded for the album.[28] On 9 March 2010, Harley recorded a live performance of the song with Jools Holland and his band, for Holland's show on BBC Radio 2. It was broadcast the following month.[29]

"No Bleeding Hearts" features Harley's son, Kerr Nice, playing piano. The idea was suggested by the band's keyboardist James Lascelles, after Nice arrived for an overnight stay at the studio.[10][9] The song was described by Harley in October 2009: "The song may seem mysterious on first listen, but I'm quietly hoping that those who have now heard it twice, some even three times on this tour, will have started to form some interpretation."[30] In the May 2010 issue of Acoustic Magazine, Harley stated that the song sounded like the early Cockney Rebel, and "could be very much my modern day Sebastian".[24]

"Blinded with Tears" was written around 2000 with ex-Cockney Rebel guitarist Jim Cregan. The song had working titles of "When You Fall Down Dead" and "Failed Romances", and had originally been described by Harley as a "slow, backbeat drama" in a September 2000 online diary entry.[31] Later in October 2004, Harley published part of the song's lyrics in a diary entry, when the song was then titled "Alone in the End".[32]

The song "2,000 Years from Now" features six Wymondham school children providing backing vocals. The inclusion of the local children, aged 10–11, was a last-minute decision, and the close proximity of Spooner Row Primary School to the studio meant that the children were quickly able to arrive at the studio. For a BBC News article, Harley commented: "It's fantastic. We had a really good time – they worked very hard and picked it up so quickly. I'd almost finished this track and I said to my engineer, 'There's a primary school down the road isn't there, I'd like some school kids on this track because the lyric is about the future of the planet'. Three hours later they were all here and two hours later we'd done it."[33]

The album was released on CD in the UK in May 2010, by Absolute (via Universal). It had been licensed to the label by Harley's own Comeuppance Ltd.[10][34] In Europe, the album was released by Repertoire Records.[35]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Record Collector	[36]
Express.co.uk	[37]

Upon release, Terry Staunton of Record Collector wrote: "There's little of the arch art rock of Cockney Rebel on his latest release, though the lyrical adventure of old survives. It's sturdy, timeless singer-songwriter fare, Harley's acoustic guitar front and centre, caressing his still mannered vocal, embellished by piano and violin."[36] Simon Gage of The Daily Express stated: "The music is simple, raw and thoughtful but the likeability is still there and the songs interesting. It won't do what "Make Me Smile" did for him but it's an album he must be proud of."[37] Andrew Thomas of The Lancashire Telegraph claimed: "Although well into his fifties, Harley can always surprise me and that's the case on Stranger Comes To Town. This is a striking set with three or four standout tracks – a welcome album from an innovative writer and performer."[38]

Martin Hutchinson of The Bolton News said: "Harley is back. His anger and emotion comes across in the lyrics of the new songs like "No Bleeding Hearts" and "True Love Will Find You In The End". Lyrically insightful, musically magnificent. Harley at his very best."[21] Jon Butler of The Press (York) also mentioned and praised the album in a review of the band's concert at the Grand Opera House in May 2010: "With the passage of time Steve Harley has lost none of his edge. Indeed his voice has held up well and the new material from Stranger Comes to Town is strong stuff and worthy of closer inspection because Harley has something to say that's worth listening to."[39]

Musicians

• Steve Harley – vocals (all tracks), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 3, 6-9)
• Barry Wickens – violin (tracks 1, 3–7, 10), viola (tracks 1, 3–4, 10), electric guitar (tracks 1–2, 7-9), acoustic guitar (tracks 6, 10), backing vocals (tracks 1–2, 6, 8, 10)
• Robbie Gladwell – arpeggio guitar parts (track 7), electric guitar (tracks 8, 10), 12 string acoustic guitar (track 10), backing vocals (tracks 1–2, 8, 10)
• James Lascelles – keyboards (track 1), percussion (tracks 1, 3, 6), Hammond organ (tracks 2, 8-10), Mini-Moog synthesizer (tracks 2, 7, 9), Hammered dulcimer (track 3), piano (tracks 3–6, 9), melodica (tracks 4, 6), synthesizer (track 4), strings synthesizer (track 10)
• Lincoln Anderson – bass (tracks 1–3, 6-10), double bass (tracks 4-5)
• Stuart Elliott – drums (tracks 1–3, 7-10), hand drums (tracks 4-5), percussion (tracks 4, 7, 10)
• Katie Brine – backing vocals (tracks 1–3, 8, 10)
• Kerr Nice – piano (track 7)
• Grace Nickalls - choir on chorus (track 10)
• Joe Dobson - choir on chorus (track 10)
• Marcus Greenwood - choir on chorus (track 10)
• Masie Colquhoun - choir on chorus (track 10)
• Maya Hodgson - choir on chorus (track 10)
• Sam Hewitson - choir on chorus (track 10)

Production

• Steve Harley – producer
• Nick Brine – engineer
• Dougal Watt – studio assistant
• Owen Morgan – studio assistant
• Alex Edmunds – studio assistant
• Nelson Milburn – studio assistant
• Tom Povall - post production
• Denis Blackham – mastering

Design

• Mike Callow – photography
• With thanks to – "The Stranger on the Beach"
• Mark Scarfe at Aarlsen – sleeve design

The album spawned two digital-only singles – "Faith & Virtue" and "For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn".[41][42] Both singles were released with a cover using the same artwork as the Stranger Comes to Town album.