The ‘how’ and ‘where’ of things is always a really tricky thing to put your finger on, but to some degree, this book has to have been influenced by Joso’s student days in Liverpool. Back then she shared a flat with a couple of former musicians who played with Echo and the Bunnymen, and so there was always a steady flow of songwriters and riff masters through the place… with bands like, The Stairs playing on the roof at parties—and the local constabulary threatening arrests for a ‘breach of the peace’—but it’s arguably really OK to breach the ‘peace & quiet’ when there are top sounds to be heard.
Anyway, maybe back there in Liverpool, a few of the seeds were planted for the songwriting element of the novel. It’s got to be said that this particular book is heavily influenced by songwriters, both in the natural rhythms of the ways that they speak and by the art of their songwriting, from: Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen to Noel Gallagher, Richard Ashcroft and Ian Brown; and including bands from The Clash to the Kaiser Chiefs.
Throughout the book, the main character, Mark, is preoccupied by the thought that listening to the wrong music can lead to wrong thinking (and, wrong headedness), and maybe even wrong ways of living. And so develops the idea of listening to music and reading books that soothe the soul and mind. The title of Edgar ‘Jones’ Jones album, ‘Soothing Music for Stray Cats’ must ultimately have seemed an obvious choice, tip-toeing its way cheekily, but naturally, onto the cover of the novel.—that album, by the way, is well worth a listen. Top stuff. -by MK