By David Vincent

Two-and-a-half years on from The Paper Grenade, Balsall Common-based singer-songwriter Chris Tye returns with a new album. Recorded in Birmingham, Stronger In Numbers is Tye's most ambitious yet and fully realised release yet, and is officially launched at Cafe Ort, Birmingham, on Saturday 22 April 2017.

How (if at all) does Stronger In Numbers differ to The Paper Grenade?
Well first of all I feel my writing has improved from the last album, I’m writing more and feel like I have set a higher standard for myself. I am extremely proud of The Paper Grenade, but it was a collection of songs gathered from over a long period of time. The writing for Stronger In Numbers was much more focused, I feel the lyrics have more meaning and weight, meaning I was able find more depth when performing them in the studio.

The way in which myself and producer Michael Clarke captured these songs was also totally different. As I said, I love The Paper Grenade and feel it still holds up, but having started recording the album with someone else, lots of the songs were pieced together in more of a multi-tracked fashion – which is a perfectly respectable way to make a record. But this time, however, we really wanted to capture something of my live performances on the album. So the process for every track on the record began with me recording and playing guitar or piano at the same – to capture ‘a moment’. We then took full advantage of the studio to layer up the other sounds. Michael was a great help with this – he plays lots of instruments to a really high standard!

The album was also recorded much quicker and think it preserves a freshness for that reason – 20 days to track ... 20 days to mix.

Do you see the new album as a continuation of any of the ideas and/ or themes you began with The Paper Grenade?
The new album is not a sequel or anything ... but there are some themes lyrically which follow through. Thematically Stronger In Numbers is much more concise. The theme is togetherness – not exclusively but most of the songs relate to this in some way. I was inspired to write about this after losing a really close friend to cancer just after making The Paper Grenade. Aside from the overwhelming sadness of it all I was struck by how .... in his final weeks and with every second of his time meticulously shared out between family, friends and rest ... how lifted he was by people! People he loved, people who he was able to share a laugh with. Stronger in numbers.

What are some of your personal highlights on the album, and why?
Feature Fight was written within a day or two of our first session on this album. I wrote the song in my kitchen in the midst of looking after my two young daughters. It's funny, this is where I write lots of my stuff – it can be difficult at the times with all the distractions and requests for ‘SNACKS DADDY’!...where was I? The process for the song began while I was trying to workout the chords for the John Martyn classic Bless The Weather – there are some brilliantly inspiring chords in that song. The lyrics came fairly directly from an actual argument I had on a night out. The title Feature Fight is a funny little working title that refused to go away!

How did the album come together?
Every time I finish a project I’m always desperate to start the next immediately, it is my most creative time I think. So I started writing songs straight after we recorded The Paper Grenade. I guess the bulk of the songs were written between September 2014 and the end of 2015 with the exception of No Sing, which was originally written around 2007! And then rewritten for this album with Jo Hamilton and Jon Cotton. During this time frame I also wrote and recorded the songs and underscore for [documentary films] Irene’s Ghost and Balancé. All the songs were written before the sessions with Michael began, I wanted to check he felt we had a strong album before we started, so I was keen to have too much material and try and impress him ... he has very high expectations from the records he makes.

You're launching the album at Ort with a stripped down line-up - who's in your live band?
The live band consists on me on vocals and guitars and my long time collaborators Jayne Powell on backing vocals, electric guitars and percussion (she’s earning her fee!), and Simon Davies on piano/ keyboards and backing vocals. He also claps in time at one point. I feel so lucky that they have both agreed to play my songs for so many years.  

How are the album's lush arrangements working / sounding cut back?
When we did the album launch shows for The Paper Grenade [at The Glee Club in 2014], I wanted to recreate every last detail from the album.  This time I’m happy reinterpret the songs live. Live music is a totally different beast to recorded – fuelled more by the energy of the moment.  That’s not to say we don’t rehearse hard and prepare – but we are having fun in this line-up. It feels great to let the vocals and harmonies be the main focus, and let the other instruments support that. We played some shows with this band on tour last October and I think they were the best yet.

Chris Tye plays Ort Cafe, Birmingham on Sunday 22 April.