Hospital Corner has released his new single ‘Waiting For Me’.
The new track from Hospital Corner (aka Chris Finn) is taken from the forthcoming EP ‘Speaking New Languages’.
Speaking of the single, Chris said: “It was written during a state of flux, where one door was thankfully closing but was another one opening? Or was I taking a sledgehammer to a wall? The themes of fear, overthinking, being left behind and being unable to change at the right moments runs through a lot of the music I write.”
To celebrate his single release, Chris shared with us 5 tracks that influenced ‘Waiting For Me’.
Paul Westerberg – World Class Fad | Listen via Spotify
The Replacements are in my mind pretty much all the time when I’m making music, but it was this solo album from Paul Westerberg that I was coming back to a lot when I was writing and recording ‘Waiting For Me’. It’s uncomplicated rock music from an icon of the alt-rock scene and I think the chorus lyrics are sensational (If you want it that bad/be a world class fad/remember leave a trail of crumbs). The album (’14 Songs’) may well not be what Westerberg is best remembered for but I just think it captures everything that Westerberg is great at. Energy! Melody! Hard Living! I try to at least capture 2 out of those 3 things in my music too! It also has an incredible music video which perfectly encapsulates the MTV/VH1 aesthetic of the early 1990s.
Bright Eyes – Soul Singer in A Session Band | Listen via Spotify
Conor Oberst is an all-timer for me. I’ve listened to his music ever since I first used [redacted] to download [redacted] on the ‘family computer’. I love Bright Eyes, I’m into Desaparecidos (still need to be looking at that name to spell it properly) and I’m a huge fan of his solo work. Better Oblivion Community Center as well. Everything! This song, I actually had a few of the lyrics made into illustrations which then became tattoos (by Wes Vaughan, incredible tattoo artist!). To me, it’s a reminder not to let music become something that I only do for money and not enjoyment. I’ve been a full time jobbing musician before, singing covers for 2 or 3 hours a night, 4 or 5 nights a week and it has almost forced me away from it completely. I like to be creative and I like to build things. That is what I want music to be. Yes, I work other jobs (and still do the occasional ‘covers gig’) but I like to try and keep an element of separation between music and income at the moment. I don’t want to ‘wail like an infant atop a white baby grand’ and end up ‘shredded to ribbons beneath a microphone stand’. So Conor, thanks for the permanent reminder (on my arms)!
Courtney Marie Andrews – Burlap Strings | Listen via Spotify
You know when you first hear an artist out of the blue and it makes you stop what you’re doing and focus on nothing but that song. I first heard Courtney on, I think, Gideon Coe’s Radio 6 show one night and I was immediately a fan (I think the song was actually ‘Together or Alone’). She is quite simply a gigantic talent. Both inspirational to me while also making me think…what’s the point?! That can still be a positive though, I’ll never be Courtney Marie Andrews and that’s fine! I can still be me, still be an artist. My girlfriend Anna – who provided backing vocals on ‘Waiting For Me’ – and I do a cover of ‘Burlap Strings’ at home every so often. She is a far, FAR, FAR better singer than me. Maybe we’ll record it properly at some point.
Bruce Springsteen – Stolen Car | Listen via Spotify
Another artist that is never very far from my mind when I’m making music is ‘The Boss’. This version of this song in particular (recorded during sessions for ‘The River’ but not actually released until 1998 on a box set called ‘Tracks’) is one of my favourite Springsteen songs. It’s a song, broadly, about loss and trying to escape it whilst simultaneously longing for a romanticised version of a life you once had. These sentiments are the foundations that ‘Waiting For Me’ was built on! During lockdown I worked for a popular, immoral and exploitative food delivery company so the chorus where Bruce sings:
“Now I’m drivin’ a stolen car on a pitch-black night
And I’m doin’ my best to make it through
Well I’m just sittin’ down here at the Stanton light
I wanna get caught, but I never do”
Really hit me in a completely new way and instilled a sense of nobility and valour in ‘doing my best to make it through’. So thanks, Bruce! I also used to change Stanton to Granton when I sang it in the car because that’s very funny! When I was demoing a lot of music for the EP at home I recorded a cover of this. It’ll be on my laptop somewhere! I actually sent it to my friend out of the blue and he said ‘out for my anniversary just now mate, will listen later’ and I laughed at how utterly incongruous it is to send a version of this song to someone on their anniversary.
Television – Marquee Moon | Listen via Spotify
All indie rock bands are influenced by Television to some degree. Without them I think rock or alternative rock music probably takes an entirely different path. There’s nothing much I can add that hasn’t already been said by far more articulate and talented people than me in the wake of Tom Verlaine’s passing, but for me it’s the dynamics in this song. It contains one of the definitive rock and roll ‘run ups’ which then releases into an ethereal mix of jangly guitar noises before dropping down to nothing but a few taps on the ride symbol before the groove comes back in, followed by the bass, then followed by the guitar riffs that start the song. It’s some of the most incredibly composed guitar music of all time. It knows itself, it understands itself and it doesn’t beg for attention. That is ‘Marquee Moon’ to me. Those dynamics are something I will aspire to forever because in comparison, ‘Waiting For Me’ is completely unaware of anything and screams to be noticed like a bored toddler but ‘Marquee Moon’ by Television, very good!
You can stream Hospital Corner ‘Waiting For Me’ via Spotify below: