Media release: Former Blue Nile keyboardist returns with stunning album

PJ Moore & Co. is a powerhouse of established and emerging talent.

It brings together PJ Moore, formerly of The Blue Nile, and award-winning composer and musician, Malcolm Lindsay – an eclectic duo who more recently have joined forces with up-and-coming performer, Mike McKenzie, to create a debut album, When A Good Day Comes, that delivers a real emotional punch.

Citing the politician’s classic reason of “spending time with family”, PJ Moore – pianist and electronics honcho of The Blue Nile – left his former colleagues to tour without him following 2004’s ‘High’, the band’s last release. So, could the imminent release of Moore’s first-ever solo recordings be this year’s biggest sonic surprise? It may well be.

When A Good Day Comes – presenting eight songs, mostly gestated after his son left home for university and completed more recently, in the strange calm of 2020/21 – might well appease fans who have long hoped that the sound of The Blue Nile might just shimmer again on some distant horizon. But PJ Moore & Co. isn’t about trying to emulate the past.

Over almost two years, Moore and Lindsay have worked together to craft fresh, compelling songs where guitars, strings and vocals build on Moore’s distinctive keyboard sounds.

Moore commented: “I was greatly encouraged by my good friend, Malcolm – composer, guitarist and producer. He gently nagged me that, although I never had a writer’s role in The Blue Nile, I had some worthwhile songs lurking on my hard drive that should see the light of day.

“It was new to me to be writing songs from scratch but even just a basic home computer can now record everything I ever dreamt of – all the instruments that previously went to tape, and all the drum machines and synths and samples.

“With such miracle tools to hand, I could be home from the school run, cooking pasta, and listen to a track I’d created while the house was empty and decide without pain whether to keep it or scrap it. Back in the day that would easily have been a week’s work in the studio.

“So, I slowly learned to write and work alone, while Malcolm was always very generous and positive about what I was doing.”

Initially, however, Lindsay was too busy with his own soundtrack and production work to collaborate on the songs in the studio, until the pandemic struck. Now, with an unexpected reprieve from the usual demands, the pair focused on arranging the songs, and soon it became clear that the words and melodies would require a singular voice.

Enter Edinburgh-born Mike McKenzie, an already rising star whose own career progress had also been somewhat slowed by world events soon after he won a BBC Scotland singer/songwriter award in 2019.

Remarkably, although PJ and Malcolm had been eavesdropping on Mike’s nascent success, the singer was unaware of The Blue Nile’s recordings, which seemed to guarantee a fresh approach and happily skirt comparisons with Moore’s former vocalist.

The resulting album is ‘When A Good Day Comes’ – a yearning and optimistic set of eight ‘dreamscaped’ songs to be released in September 2022 with a lead track, ‘Need To Believe’, free to download from July.

ENDS

Notes for editors:

ALBUM DETAILS

Track list:

1: Need To Believe 2: Good Until It’s Gone 3: Halfway Crazy 4: Pale Moonlight 5: Next Time It Rains 6: All That You Wanted 7: When A Good Day Comes 8: Windows For Submarines

Credits:

Produced by Malcolm Lindsay and PJ Moore

Vocals: Mike McKenzie

Music/arrangements: PJ Moore and Malcolm Lindsay

Electric, acoustic and bass guitars: Malcolm Lindsay (except All That You Wanted rhythm guitar: David Galbraith)

Drum programming: PJ Moore

Backing vocals: Mike McKenzie and PJ Moore

Choir on Pale Moonlight and When A Good Day Comes: Cellar Door Sounds

All songs by PJ Moore except Good Until it’s Gone (Moore/Lindsay) and Halfway Crazy (Lindsay/Hind/Moore)

Recorded at Whitehat Studios and Mozie Sound

Vocals recorded by Gordon McNeil at Stellar Sound

Mastered by Calum Malcolm

MEDIA RELEASE issued by PJ Moore & Co.. You too can share your stories (aka press or media releases), on this site. Email here for more information.

Contact: PJ Moore & Co.

Email: malc@malcolmlindsay.com