Sunday, July 24, 2022

Edwyn Collins: In Your Eyes

Edwyn Collins was the lead singer with the Scottish post-punk band Orange Juice and later enjoyed solo success, notably with A Girl Like You in 1995.

In 2005 he suffered two cerebral haemorrhages. The Observer journalist Euan Feguson met him in 2007, as he was slowly recovering:

Edwyn can't, thanks to the right hand, strum any more, but he does manage mean chords. He limps up and across to fetch a guitar and shows me how the simple placing of fingers on frets can be made to work, especially if amped up. "I use an amplifier on it, hammer away chords on the left hand, and it works. Mainly the Memphis chords. Steve Cropper, Otis Redding, those guys. Plus, I’m surrounded by great people."

He has toured, to acclaim, though critics have occasionally found the need to contrast the singing with the quality of speech between numbers, and is eager to tour again, and often. 

In Your Eyes comes from his album Losing Sleep. Released in 2010, it was the first he recorded after his illness.

He has released two more since and today works mainly as a record producer.

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