Ed Cosens: ‘It’s something that I love doing, playing around – I don’t feel tied or bound to doing one thing I like’

Sheffield’s Ed Cosens will release his second solo album, Somewhere Between Dark And Light, tomorrow (24 May), his very personal and reflective take on the fragility of existence and navigating good and dark days.

Talking about the personal nature of these songs, Cosens explains: ‘These things stay with you sometimes and whilst at the time they may be difficult, at least they provide a rich seam of ideas and lyrics that can be mined at a later date. It was very much an organic thing, when I looked at the songs I’d written, I realised there was a theme that I’d had in my head.’ Last October’s stand alone single ‘Black Dog’ was released on World Mental Health Day: ‘It’s about waking up and feeling in that dark place where you feel unable to function,’ Cosens said. ‘I hope these songs help start a conversation and spread mental health awareness further. ‘When I’m Done Running’ and ‘I’m On Your Side’ represent the lightest moments – those moments where I feel most positive and comforted by those around me.’

The title track ‘Somewhere Between Dark And Light’ is a beautifully haunting, orchestral and instrumental piece that, at just over a minute, nonetheless encapsulates exactly what the album is about: ‘What I’ve tried to do – I hope this comes across – is that this first little instrumental starts dark and ends light and then the first song of the album is quite a positive moment,’ he said. ‘I’ve tried to end it on a quite a light, hopeful moment and then everything in between is the gist, that’s that’s the whole kind of arc of it and I’m glad you picked up on that.’

The follow-on track, ‘When I’m Done Running’, is one of the standout tracks on the album; it’s an emotional tribute to his wife, set to a Beatlesey melody which builds to a soaring and moving cinematic outro: ‘That started when I was driving, which is sometimes the best time that a lot of great ideas pop into your head (laughs). When you just concentrate on driving, your thoughts are floating around somewhere. I started singing and the first bit of it just came to me in the car, I quickly pulled over and recorded it into my phone (laughs). I’ve spent many years traveling around and being busy and doing all the band stuff (he has been the guitarist in Reverend and the Makers for around 20 years). It’s saying that I hope that when it’s all finished, I’ve still got you, the life to come back to – my wife and family – it’s hopeful.’

As the track kicks off: “When I’m done running, I’ll settle down. Build me a home, find some common ground. Where I can be with you, my dear. And if they stop this carousel, I’m getting off, ‘cos I don’t fare too well when I’m alone and you’re not here.”

‘It’s that idea of trying to start with a bit of hope and a bit of light, there are dark times and there are bad days and all the rest of it but actually there are some great days as well’

That sense of hopefulness is continued in tracks such as ‘Tiny Boxes’, a Billy Joel-like piano track with an almost hymnal intro, a song which Cosens describes as ‘a love letter to my family’, with lines such as “all I have to give are wrapped inside in boxes, small enough to fit around your heart and in your pockets”: ‘It’s that idea of trying to start with a bit of hope and a bit of light, there are dark times and there are bad days and all the rest of it but actually there are some great days as well,’ he said. ‘I’m not always the perfect husband and dad and I’m often away with the fairies thinking about whatever else and not quite there (laughs) but, you know, I’ve got this love for them all that’s always there and no matter where I am or what I’m doing, it’s always there.’

Cosens is hoping the new tracks will offer hope and comfort to those struggling with their own mental health: ‘Through that period, as we all did, there was a lot of self-reflection,’ he said. ‘For me, personally, without realising, I began to understand a little bit about my own mental health having for years just never really thought about it. It helped me writing the songs and that helped me externalise it and talk about it, even to myself. Then through having conversations like this with yourself and talking about the album as it’s come together, it’s an ongoing conversation which has been really helpful for me. I hope, in turn, if other people are listening to the songs on the record, they might recognise themselves in some of the subjects and themes, even if they listen to something and get some comfort from it, or say to a friend: “Oh, I heard this song today and it really sort of resonated” and just start that conversation.’

Before Reverend and the Makers took off, Cosens shared stages with Arctic Monkeys’ members Matt Helders and Alex Turner. He joked of his debut solo album, Fortunes Favour, in 2021 that it’s ‘only taken 10 years or so for me to find the confidence’: ‘I subscribe to the fine wine way of thinking – allow things to mature fully before enjoying,’ he said. ‘Nobody wants to be Lambrusco!’ A lot of his debut album is about his own personal journey: ‘The music industry has thrown a lot of curveballs over the years but it’s also about friends, family and relationships,’ he said to me, shortly before its release in 2021.

‘I’m a big fan of classic 50’s and 60’s records and that Motown vibe’

Growing up, his mum was a big Carpenters and Beatles fan and he had two older sisters who played Rick Astley, Jason Donovan and Five Star. ‘The whole Britpop thing happened when I was 12/13, so bands like The Stone Roses and The Smiths, they played a huge role in wanting to get into a band, they were hugely influential.’ He’s also very impressed by The Black Keys’ songwriting. ‘I’m a sonic person, I’m really interested in how something sounds. I’m a big fan of classic 50’s and 60’s records and that Motown vibe.’

That extends itself to the sweeping, haunting strings that feature heavily on his new album: ‘I’ve tried to keep it interesting musically, so that it’s not just one kind of thing,’ he said. ‘It’s something that I love doing, playing around – I don’t feel tied or bound to doing one thing I like. I think maybe with the band and stuff, it’s a lot more prescriptive, where it has to be a certain thing, whereas with this actually I feel like I can do whatever I want as long as it’s portraying the emotions that I want to say, lyrically and melodically. There were strings on the first album but at that point, I was still learning a lot about it. The first album was very much a “Well, I’ll put a bit of strings on here because I think it’ll sound quite nice” but it was more of a textural thing, whereas this time I’ve made a conscious effort to make it a real feature. Like on ‘Doghouse’, I was really pleased with how that came out. Having these ideas for the strings and then presenting them to actual string players, we had such a great day in the studio.’

He describes ‘In The Light’ on the new album as ‘probably the most representative track of the dark and light idea’: ‘It’s the most overtly obvious song about the subject matter,’ he said. ‘There are days where you say: “Catch me if you can, I’m falling” where you’re tumbling through this kind of fog and and then other days the fog clears and you suddenly feel okay again. All of a sudden the next day, the fog’s descending, it’s the cyclical nature of the whole process. That song started out lot more electronic, it was a bit weird (laughs), a dark sort of thing. As we were putting the album together, I wasn’t quite sure about it, so we stripped all that out and went back to the acoustic and wrote the strings part for it. Now it fits on the album perfectly but it was bit of a journey with that one!’

I ask him if his ‘Here Comes The Rain’, which opens with a storm erupting followed by heavy rain, is his countertake on The Beatles’ ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and he laughs: ‘Yeah, probably, subconsciously. It’s another element of struggling, about why you’ve behaved in a certain way or done a certain thing. With the understanding that it was probably because I was going through a particularly bad day or a bad week. It’s that feeling of helplessness, you’ve got no control over it. You know you don’t want to feel this way but you can’t avoid it, it’s just the “rains” coming. This is the beautiful thing about having been through the process of making the album and now talking about it – it’s understanding those moments and being able to try and counter them somehow, although it’s not always possible. You suddenly get this fresh perspective when the fog clears, it’s that idea of hope again.’

The closer ‘I’m On Your Side’ very much taps into the theme of ‘light’ on the album; it feels like a sonic hug, almost like a talisman to comfort him on the darker days. Even the guitar line that underpins it has a sunny, shimmery feel. Ultimately, it’s a track about having someone’s back, whatever life throws at you: ‘I was trying to end on that hopeful, positive note,’ he said. ‘That song is all about drawing on a very personal thing with my wife, my family and my parents and everybody who’s always there. When you’ve got someone in your life like my wife, who’s very supportive and helps me out when I’m feeling down, she kicks me in the arse or whatever (laughs), it’s literally saying that I’m on your side. It’s a way of escaping out the other side again into the light. It’s the idea that there is so much good in the world and in your life. There might be days when you can’t see it but it’s always there, it never goes away, the song’s just trying to recognise that.’

As the track opens: “Storm clouds are blowin’, blowin’ in the dark. Trying to keep my thoughts together, I don’t know where to start. I turn to face the sunlight, let the shadows fall behind us. Maybe I’ve been blind to thinking I’m all alone because I’m on your side, she says, I’m on your side.”

If Cosens could write a song with anyone, he is quick to say Paul Simon: ‘I’d love to write and do something with Paul Simon,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘I think that’d be good choice, he’s such a creative guy and he’s written so many phenomenal songs over the years. Just to be in a room with him and maybe not even be part of writing the song, just to watch him writing, it would be amazing! I’m a huge Paul Simon fan and Simon & Garfunkel fan. I think his early 70’s solo stuff is – not underrated because obviously it’s Paul Simon and everybody loves it – but he’s obviously more known for Graceland but the lyrics of some of that early period are incredible.’

‘The whole Britpop era was was huge for me, it really inspired me to start playing guitar and being in bands when I was at school’

For someone who has been performing for more than two decades, he has also got to meet some of his musical heroes along the way: ‘I was born in the 80’s but I’m essentially a 90’s child in terms of growing up, so all the whole Britpop era was was huge for me, it really inspired me to start playing guitar and being in bands when I was at school,’ he said. ‘Getting to tour with Oasis on their final tour and then also supporting Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds and meeting him, being able to just hang out with him and talk to him, that was pretty mind-blowing because growing up, he was the reason that I picked a guitar up. We’ve been lucky to support loads of people. I’ve got to know and played with Richard Hawley quite a lot, he’s a huge inspiration and a really lovely guy.’

I ask him what the best piece of advice is that he’s ever been given by a fellow musician and he tells me an endearing story: ‘I tell you what – and this harks back to ‘I’m On Your Side’ – when we were first starting out, me and Jon (the frontman in Reverend and the Makers), there was an old guy in Sheffield called Stu Mosley. He was a piano player but he’d written a lot of songs. We were recording in the studio one day and the producer played us one of his songs. We loved it, we got the Yellow Pages out, old school (laughs) and found his number. We went and sat and had a cup of tea with him. He was really old and we just chatted about this song. He said to us: “I’ll give you one piece of advice, lads, find a woman who understands”. We were like young and whatever (laughs) but it’s true, you know. It’s not so much finding a woman or man but just finding someone you’re going to spend your life with who can appreciate the foibles of creativity. And to get through the music industry and deal with it, you need to have people around you that understand and help you out the other side. If I was trying to start out completely fresh today, I don’t think I’d bother because it’s so difficult. I feel for young bands at the minute, especially those kids who don’t have the kind of background or the money and all the rest of it to help them get through. The solo thing has been like starting again, which has been really difficult but it’s something I’m very passionate about wanting to continue doing, so it’s worth the fight!’