Reverend and the Makers’ Ed Cosens showcases his second solo album at The Leadmill

We’ve met the Reverend and now here’s one of the Makers, Ed Cosens returns to the fray as a solo artist once more with his sophomore album, Somewhere Between Dark and Light, on Friday alongside a gig at the much-loved city venue, The Leadmill.

Ed is capable of doing something that eludes many of us, he has this ability to sincerely articulate his understanding of his feelings, how he has reacted to these and take note of this, using it as a subjective (and objective) musical muse.

“The first album had actually been cut and recorded before the pandemic hit, I was already well into coming up with new ideas for future things.”

“I had days where I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t do anything. I just used to sit. I wrote a song called Blackdog that I released last October for World Mental Health Day last year (2023), and the first line was…”

“I find myself wasting half a day, waiting for the Blackdog to go away”

“It’s that idea when you get up in the morning and you’re just not on it, and you just sit there and suddenly you find that it’s the afternoon. You’ve not done anything, you don’t know why or what’s happening. It’s just this fog or this cloud that just captures you.”

The narrative of Ed’s experiential epiphany, if you will, is keenly posited within the follow-up to 2021s Fortune’s Favour, as he straddles the fine line between the lower and more exultant mood states, flitting between both at times — something many may well empathise with themselves.

"I never understood that was what was happening before, I suppose the lockdown helped me and allowed me to reflect on how I was feeling, how I was operating”

Ed continues, describing the thought process behind the themes present in his next collection of songs:

“Then I came up with this whole dark and light, some days I’m on top of the world for no reason. It was as I was writing the songs that I had the realisation that this all made sense… It's interesting discussing anxiety and mental health. But that’s what’s made this all come together. That whole period.”

It was in his deconstruction of self that he found a lyrical means of understanding his own health, parlaying these musings into his sophomore album, Somewhere Between Dark and Light.

“That whole lockdown period, not just for me, but it allowed you to almost analyse your own headspace. You were left alone to think and it was through that period that I soon realised, y’know… your own mental health.”

“It was this idea of operating between dark and light, which I guess a lot of people do. I’d never really thought that I felt like that, I just thought that I was and just got on with stuff.”

Notably the track, In the Light is quite possibly the most apt expression of the album’s name. But that’s not to say that the listener is in for an album of deep reflection or a morose affair, not at all. Songs such as I’m On Your Side and When I’m Done Running are tinted with a comforting positivity, displaying moments where you can tell that Ed is feeling at ease within himself and the songs he has carefully crafted.

Previously he’s mentioned that the hardest thing for him was to find the confidence both within the music and himself to go it alone. Writing a song as part of a band is hard enough on its own, but at least you have the relatively protective foil of your collective to embolden you, exposing yourself to judgement - never mind criticism - can be a heavy burden, even if it’s mainly an internal thing.

Thankfully, it’s something that Ed Cosens has overcome and in doing so emerged as a solo-artist in his own right. If Fortune’s Favour is to be considered a message of looking within to find self belief and doing what you want to do then it goes without saying that Somewhere Between Dark and Light is about maintaining a balance and self-awareness of your own state of being… at least that’s the initial take from Ed’s discussion on the matter.

Ed Cosens will be performing at The Leadmill, his first headline show at the venue. A personal achievement that is clearly apparent when he discusses his excitement at performing there.

“It’s pretty amazing, I’ve played at The Leadmill many times over the years. But I’ve never played it under my own name, headlining under my own steam. To step out on the stage as me, doing my thing, yeah I can’t wait.”

“It’s also the only full band show I’m doing on the tour, usually it’s quite stripped back. This one is going to be full guns blazing, full band, strings, vocals, everything.”

You can still buy tickets to see Ed Cosens at The Leadmill on Friday, 24 May, 2024. Book your tickets here.

Tickets to his other shows can be purchased by clicking this link.

Somewhere Between Dark and Light will be released this Friday also, and will be available on CD and Vinyl from 1984 Recordings — as well as all of your usual streaming platforms.