By MICHELLE HERBISON
A PLAN to include a cover song in Mark Seymour’s next original album resulted in a whole CD covering some of his favourite songs by other artists.
The former Hunters and Collectors front-man told the Independent his new album, Seventh Heaven Club, featured 12 songs he had grown attached to over the years.
“Phil Chevron’s Lorelei I’ve had in my show for about 10 years. The Bob Dylan track, Can’t Wait, I listened to over and over again and constantly returned to. I thought there might be something in the way these songs are connected and what makes them get me excited about songwriting,” Seymour explained.
An overarching theme of relationships and romance held the album together, with each song featuring a line that “pokes out at me”, Seymour said.
“They’re basically all songs that have a lyrical connection. I’m always looking at the word-craft of other people and how songwriters get their heads around a theme.”
Seymour revealed struggling with the endless challenges of songwriting despite all his commercial success.
“With writing love songs to do it well you can’t squib on the truth. It’s a hard thing to do.
“I’ve done it a few times but I’ve also written a lot of songs that haven’t seen the light of day.”
Seymour’s approach to songwriting had changed over time to become “less methodical”.
“I tend now to just write lyrics about topics or themes that really intrigue me and don’t try to nail things to the floor too quickly. I love storytelling and simplicity.”
An overriding love for performing continues to motivate Seymour to keep busy touring.
“The whole business of getting up on stage singing to an audience is really where I find myself. I can be away pretty much every weekend and travel all over Australia.”
Seymour promised that his set at North Geelong’s Sphinx Hotel on 18 May would mix new songs with previous hits, including Hunters classics.
