Interview with Third Lung: ‘For me, it’s about the song, it can be done a million ways’

Reading-based rock band Third Lung is gearing up to release an EP, ‘Dialogues of the Fatal Few’, in November with another single, ‘Climb’, out next month.

The band comprises Tom Farrelly (lead vocals), his wife Camilla (lead guitar), Rob (bass) and Sam (drums). Farrelly describes his wife, whom he met at Reading college, as being the link between them. He has know Rob since he was ‘a 15 year old prodigy’: ‘We met in a random pub, in the Tilehurst Triangle,’ he said. ‘I was starting to develop demos. It was just me and Rob for a long time, we’ve been through various incarnations. Sam was a well-known player on the functions circuit, he comes from a funk background. We’ve been together for about four years.’ Their name has a great backstory: ‘It comes from the early days,’ Farrelly laughed. ‘I used to be a drummer but in the early days singing I was so nervous, I tended to over egg it, I had to force it out, it was my little journey. My mum came along to a jam night- she’s the number one fan of the band – and said “God, you sing as if you’ve got a third lung” and it sort of stuck!’

Last month, they released the third single, ‘What is a Life’, from their upcoming EP, which asks the question: What is a life on your own, if you don’t have people to share it with? ‘U2 is a massive influence in this song,’ Farrelly said. ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, it has that structure in it. It was built off Camilla’s guitar part, her riff to the verses with the chord changes. I latched onto it and the melody came quickly. Not the lyrics, though, they were slower in coming, I think I wrote 20 verses! It has flavours of ‘The Temper Trap’ by Sweet Disposition and Holy Holy (an Australian indie rock band). I’d like to give them a doff of the cap, their track ‘Teach Me About Dying’ doubled down on the rhythm, so the song is somewhere between those three.’

As the song goes: ‘What is a life? Raise a fist to the sky, cannot help wonder why? Am I here on my own? To weep what was sown, silently screaming you nearer. What is a life?’

‘I’m finding that there’s a very vocal minority that is polarising a lot of the conversations we’re having publically’

‘Dialogues of the Fatal Few’ will comprise ‘Climb’ and previous singles ‘What is a Life’, ‘I A Fire’, ‘Hold the Line’ and two new tracks: ‘The Art of Stealing’ and ‘Dance Me Lover’: I say that the EP name sounds fatalistic. ‘I don’t know if it’s fatalistic but it’s cautionary,’ he said. ‘One thing that I’m finding is that there’s a very vocal minority that is polarising a lot of the conversations we’re having publically – in general, I mean. Everything has been politicised, I don’t know if that is a good thing but I do know that the only way I can figure out how I feel about anything is to speak openly about it. ‘I A Fire’ is very much about throwing off an oppressive energy and speaking freely. That theme seems to run through all the songs we’ve released this year. It’s something we should all be advocating.’

Farrelly describes ‘Climb’ as being ‘centered around redemption’ and ‘allowing space to fuck it up’: ‘There’s a lyric in it “I’m on your side, let’s come together”, it’s saying rock ‘n’ roll is about all of us, not us and them, it’s about bringing everyone together, it seems to have been getting more exaggerated, this idea that there’s a common enemy to fight. This one’s got quite a Motown vibe, I’ve been listening to Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett recently. I had a version of the song that I’d done before but I wasn’t happy with it. I went back in and found the missing piece of the puzzle, it’s more early R& B, mid-tempo and groovy. I made a pact with myself a while ago that if I didn’t feel I’d prepared a song in the best way, it’s a no-go. Early soul, Motown and R&B are the influences dictating the sound. For me, it’s about the song, it can be done a million ways.’

‘The Art of Stealing’ and ‘Dance Me Lover’ have a completely different feel: they’re slower and pared back. ‘The Art of Stealing’ is just piano and vocals and ‘Dance Me Lover’ is just the acoustic guitar and vocals,’ he said.

‘They’re almost like puzzle pieces, with crumbs leading to a final destination’

They’ve been very productive over the last year: ‘Every winter, we get together with our producer Michael Smith and record a batch of songs and release them periodically throughout the year.’ Fascinatingly, the four pieces of artwork by Rachel Clark for the first four singles off the EP interlock when placed together to create ‘a sort of face’, according to Farrelly. ‘It’s such a lovely way of doing it,’ he enthused. ‘Having that foresight to release something every two-to-three months, it’s quite conceptual. The original idea was having four elements that would add up to one idea, Camilla, she came up with it, I think and then we went to Rachel. “The best art comes when you’re on the border of what you know and what you don’t know”, Bowie said that. We’re already collecting songs for next year, they’re almost like puzzle pieces, with crumbs leading to a final destination.’

‘Hold the Line’, which they released as a single in May, opens with layered guitar lines, building to a soaring, anthemic chorus. It has been my earworm for the past few days and feels like a musical hug. ‘I’ve had a handful of relationships in the past that needed encouragement and I’ve been aided in that way,’ Farrelly said. ‘I started imagining these two characters out in the wilderness on their own, one giving the other a pep talk. It doesn’t matter what you believe when it comes to politics or religion, there’s an instinct inside all of us telling us not to give up. There’s a line in it “The god-shaped hole that’s been left in the world” – this polarisation, us and them, good and evil, it’s almost religious, isn’t it? Cancel culture is an extension of that, the notion that someone can be “cancelled”, it’s dogmatic, an inadequate substitute for what came before it.’

We chat for a bit about not believing in religion and how recently religion has been seeping back into songs, mentioning UK rock band Creeper who use a lot of religious imagery in their songs but are essentially anti-religion. ‘In songs, sometimes that (religious) language is the only language that truly gets across, if you’re grappling with deeper truths,’ Farrelly reflected. ‘That metaphorical language is what people understand, we’re visual beings.’

Songwriting for the band has always been extremely collaborative. ‘In the early days, I was the guy with the bare bones of a song and I continue to be interested in that,’ he said. ‘As the band’s developed, everyone brings their part. Rob’s annoying, he can play anything! He started playing the cello when he was five or six. He plays the double bass and he’s a phenomenal guitarist.’ I ask if that means we could be hearing some double bass in one of their next songs? ‘Any day now!,’ he laughed.

They’ve just found out that they’ll be playing LakeFest in Herefordshire this week, which features Sir Tom Jones as one of the headliners. I ask him if they’ve already decided on the set list. ‘I think we’ll play ‘What is a Life’ third from the end and ‘Hold the Line’ to end,’ he said. ‘We’re playing on Thursday (12 August), that’s when he’s playing, so we’d love to do our set and get over to see his. I think we’re on the Gold stage, that sounds posh, doesn’t it?!’

‘Very early on, I heard a lot of Bruce Springsteen’

Growing up, his parents had an incredibly eclectic music collection: ‘Very early on, I heard a lot of Bruce Springsteen – my mum loves a bit of Bruce. She also had Simon & Garfunkel, ABBA, a bit of Deep Purple, a big stack of vinyl that I’d leaf through. Queen, ELO, Eva Cassidy, Janis Joplin. My dad was very into Irish folk – he’s an Irishman – so Luke Kelly and The Dubliners, Johnny Cash, Elvis, country and Americana, that gets to my emotional centre. Then Zeppelin and Dire Straits came in. When I started to play the drums when I was around 10, I started listening to Nirvana and the Foos.’ We chat about Nandi Bushell, the incredibly talented 10 year old drummer in London who had drum battles with Dave Grohl in lockdown. ‘She’s soooo good, bless her. She’s so dedicated, she must have put in so many hours.’

If he could have written a song with anyone, he picks Bowie. ‘Alright, bless him, I’d love to write with him – I’m not saying he’d want to write with me, haha! You’d learn a trick or two from him. His album Blackstar (2016) blew my socks off.’ I confess that I’ve never listened to it all the way through. ‘Oh, listen to it all the way through, in the right order, it’s so good. I was also gonna say Robert Plant, I will always love Zeppelin but his solo albums are also incredible.’ If he could tour with anyone, he picks Noel Gallagher: ‘I think he’d be hilarious! There’s something about him, he’s a great ambassador for the dry, British sense of humour.’

(Photo from left to right: Sam, Tom, Camilla and Rob.)