2nd Grade is the solo project of Pete Gill, who you might know as the pedal steel and guitar player from Friendship, Free Cake For Every Creature and Florry. Wish you Were Here Tour is his latest album, set for release on the 7th September via Sleeper Records.
Wish you Were Here Tour is marked by its upbeat nature, retaining a sense of buoyancy even when describing more morose or troublesome situations. But that’s not to say the record is without a sad countershade, and indeed the 2nd Grade style could be described as an interplay between carefree progress and wistful retrospect. Opener ‘Favourite Song’ certainly errs on the second side of the equation, melancholic in comfortable way, where sadness is another version of fondness.
Tracks such as ‘No More Parties’ and ‘There’s Something I Should Tell You’ add an injection of loose-limbed energy, conjuring summer days of no plans and high cloud, while ‘Bad Idea’ and ‘Smart Enough’ are more contemplative, the warmth here derived from Gill’s humanistic nature rather than any environmental source. This sense of empathy and connection is intrinsic to all of the songs, from the frenetic ‘Knock Knock’ and lo-fi garage rock of ‘As Long As We Can Talk About It’ to the gentle longing of the title track, the binding skeleton around which Gill is free to experiment and mix up the 2nd Grade sound.
Which goes some way to explaining the themes of the record, too. With the title in mind, a sense of longing is omnipresent across the album, be it for another person or place or time entirely. However, rather than being the hollow escapism of much nostalgia, 2nd Grade use yearning as a mode of living and learning, as though the passing of things both good and bad lend life a comforting sense of flow. Gill evokes the past not in the hope of returning to it or recreating its dimensions, but rather as a way to remain mindful of the present. To not get bogged down in the moment, but rather lie back and float upon the current.
We’re delighted to be able to stream the record a few days before release, so grab your headphones, sit back and relax:
Cover design by Jon Samuels, photo by Abi Reimold