Seafret share the heartfelt new single 'Pictures', out July 1st through Nettwerk
After returning with their captivating comeback single ‘Hollow’ in May, their first piece of new material since their highly-praised second album ‘Most Of Us Are Strangers’ in 2020, Bridlington’s finest Seafret are back once again to unveil their heartfelt new effort ‘Pictures’.
Inspired by images of unblemished youth and possibilities, ‘Pictures’ opens up more of the tender and passionate songwriting the duo have always looked to produce. With its soft and subtle guitar playing and atmospheric vocal performance layered throughout, they are continuing to push the boundaries of their sound throughout this new year once again.
Speaking about the new offering, they said, "This song was inspired by images of having a child and how you never want them to grow up. It can also be totally open with moments in life that you just don’t want to end.”
Sometimes, to figure things out, you have to go right back to where you started. For duo Jack Sedman and Harry Draper, it took returning to their native Yorkshire to reconnect with the things that matter, and begin producing their best, most meaningful music to date.
Seafret formed in 2011, after meeting at an open mic night near their hometown of Bridlington. Upon the release of their debut project, Give Me Something, it was clear they were on to something. A year later, in 2015, they released their astounding Oceans EP. Accompanied by a video starring Game of Thrones’s Maisie Williams as a bullied teen, the lead single ‘Oceans’ remains a fan favourite, with over 450M collective streams. It’s easy to understand why. Sedman sings in a grief-stricken cry over lush arrangements of piano, steady percussion and acoustic guitar strums: “You know I'd rather drown/ Than to go on without you/ But you're pulling me down.”
“Our music always has to have something real about it,” Sedman says. He recalls his dad telling him that an audience can always tell when an artist is singing from a perspective that isn’t their own. “People can always recognise real feeling.”
Possibly this helped provide the title for Seafret’s debut album, 2016’s ‘Tell Me It’s Real’. Released as part of a distribution deal with Columbia Records, it charted in the UK and received positive reviews from critics, who praised its “moments of real beauty” and delicate emotion. But by this time, Draper says, they’d grown wise to the bigger labels. “We kind of retreated a little bit,” he says. “We really wanted a proper home for our music.” It was a fraught time: the duo, at this point barely out of their teens, were told they’d miss their chance if they walked away from the majors. “That only fired us up even more,” Draper says with a grin. They created their second album, 2020’s ‘Most Of Us Are Strangers’, over eight weeks in a Glasgow studio with producer Ross Hamilton. “It was a big risk for us,” Sedman acknowledges. Needless to say, it paid off. The album received praise from publications including The Times, which singled out the band’s “quality songwriting” and accomplished sound.
Seafret were supporting the album during a tour of Europe, before their schedule brought them back to the UK for a string of homecoming shows. But this was brought to a screeching halt by the arrival of the pandemic. Live music venues were shuttered, the band’s tour was cancelled with three shows to go, and the duo felt as though they were back to square one. Draper was in Leeds, while Sedman was back in Bridlington: “I never ever in a million years thought I would end up back here,” Sedman says. And for a long time, they found themselves waiting. “It can get heavy on your mind,” Draper recalls. “You get in this dark space. But we just tried to carry on writing, and actually we’ve never been as productive as we were during lockdowns. And we’re really proud of these songs.”
And so begins a new chapter for Seafret. Expect to hear lots more from the Bridlington duo over the course of 2022 and beyond.
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