Shares the track
From his recently released album
– Out 12th Nov | Impact Date: 4th Dec –
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 on sofas playing loads of folk, americana, rock’n’roll, whatever anyone’s got. 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 in the mid-1990s 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, Red House Painters, Yo La Tengo & Dinosaur Jr. At the same time, the name Bromide appeared after he put his own name ‘Simon Berridge’, into a word scrambler on someone’s computer & out popped ‘singer bromide’. Meanwhile, his work colleague landed a commission to write a book about Patti Smith who’d launched her career with a self-released version of Hey Joe & suggested Simon do the same. Scratchy Records was born & Simon’s debut album Iscariot Heart appeared in 1997 along with a string of positive reviews.
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 busy promoting the release performing at venues in London, Southend, Swindon & Ireland with other gigs to follow. Be sure to check in on their socials for further updates & gig announcements.
Upcoming Shows:
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