Folk artist Marty Longstaff penned Lonely in the City in response to divisions he witnessed following the controversial referendum held back in 2016. Speaking about the ballad, which was released this week, he said: “It’s a song written around the time of the Brexit referendum that deals with abject sadness, confusion and a feeling of being left behind in the isolated and divided North.” The haunting single is the first taken from his new album, II, which will be released in late August and promoted with a full UK tour. The new album was written and recorded between Nashville and Wearside, and deals with life and love from the perspective of two protagonists who are lost and lonely in the city. The bulk of it was recorded and mixed in a one-time drug rehabilitation clinic-cum-refugee centre in Sunderland’s East End in the historic Eagle Building. II follows the acclaimed eponymous 2015 debut album by The Lake Poets, who performs both solo and with a band, which contained songs such as Edinburgh, Black & Blue and Your Face, which has clocked up more than seven million plays on Spotify. The Lake Poets autumn tour includes dates in Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Brighton, Birmingham, Cambridge, Bristol, Manchester, Newton Abbot and Southampton. l For full details visit thelakepoets.com
