Shares the track
From his recently released album
– Out 20th Aug | Impact Date: 18th Sept –
Genre: Indie, Singer-Songwriter
FFO: Sports Team, The Kinks, Elvis Costello
Label / Imprint: Scratchy Records
Format: Digital Single
“An artistic triumph… you really can say it’s one of the feelgood LPs of the Summer of 2026 – Official” Louder Than War
“A lovingly playful tramp through the fairy rings of folk-rock past” – Mark Beaumont / Classic Rock
“Joyful & uplifting” Big Takeover
“This is the best one yet from Bromide & friends. Buy this!” Vive Le Rock
Currently enjoying a listing in Louder Than War’s ‘Albums of the year so far…’ for Forest Mountain Forest, South London singer-songwriter Simon Bromide shares the opening track from the album, Leonard’s Chair.
With its warm & inviting instrumentation alongside west coast style backing vocals, lyrically the track illustrates the organic way in which the songwriting process can happen. Simon explains “it aims to describe the feeling of a song coming to life. You haven’t necessarily got the words yet, so you don’t know what it’s about… you might not even have the chorus, but you know it has to come out, so you just play it & see where it goes. This particular song came to life at the regular Monday night jam at the Old Dispensary in Camberwell, South London where we sit round in a circle on sofas in the front window, playing loads of folk, americana, rock, rock’n’roll, whatever anyone’s got. They let you play your own stuff as well & the atmosphere is primed for new songs to spring into life – just like this one! The lyrics hopefully credit the many original writers”.
Now a little history… after several band lineups in his early music career, Simon was working at a publishing company when a work colleague introduced him to a whole world of alternative acts like Sonic Youth, Husker Du, Patti Smith, The Replacements, Television, American Music Club & Mark EItzel, Red House Painters, Yo La Tengo, Dinosaur Jr & many others. The name Bromide was a result of putting his own name ‘Simon Berridge’, into a word scrambler on someone’s computer & out popped ‘singer bromide’. Then, after learning that Patti Smith self-released her own debut single (a cover of Hey Joe), Simon decided to do the same, forming Scratchy Records & releasing his debut album Iscariot Heart back in the late nineties (while at the same time, his work colleague landed a job at Melody Maker & began a successful career in music journalism).
Releases from other artists like South London’s The Rocks, SLEAZE & Hank Dog plus US artist Coach Hop helped establish the Scratchy label, while Simon himself has consistently released his own work on the label throughout.
Alongside this latest album release, Simon Bromide and the Bromides are having a busy summer of gigs to promote the release playing London, Southend, Swindon & Ireland with other gigs to follow. Be sure to check in on their socials for further updates & gig announcements.
Upcoming Shows:
Aug 22nd – Scratchstock #44 / The Old Dispensary – Camberwell / South London (full band)
Oct 15th – Jacob’s Venue – Dublin (acoustic)
Oct 16th – People’s Museum – Limerick (acoustic)
Nov 8th – Betsy Trotwood – Farringdon / London (full band)
Nov 14th – Scratchstock #45 / The Old Dispensary – Camberwell / South London (full band)
Connect with Simon Bromide / Scratchy Records
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Photo Credit: Edward Harrington