Its something I’ve always wanted to do. But something I’ve never done.

And as a dentist’s assistant gently hoovered my mouth and mumbled something non sensical about quitting smoking this afternoon i realised, under local anaestetic… that I’m about to do it.

Im releasing a Valentines record:

Buy Here: http://shop.danmichaelsonandthecoastguards.co.uk/buy/if-others-call-it-love/

I’ve called it If Others Call It Love… and it is a collection of what one might call love songs, depending on your mood.

I found myself alone in a studio a few weeks ago, i ordered a pizza, i drank a little wine and began a record. I let the pizza chef pick my toppings.. I said “Hey, Surprise me..”. Thats romance.

Here’s a quick line about each song:

NO RIGHT WAY TO MOVE

at last a song that deals with the way some removal firms manhandle your precious goods.

YOU LEAVE ME IN RUINS

musings on the tragic demise of Bob Wells, a tree surgeon from Leicester

TREMORS

Inspired by a cyclic 48 hour Steve Reich triangle performance

AVALANCHE

This is Leonard Cohen’s song that we covered recently for Mojo magazine. He apparently said of our efforts “Did you change the Key?”

IF OTHERS CALL IT LOVE..

a short examination of the writing style of the now fully recovered Barry Manilow

None of those explanations are in any way true. Except for the bit about Leonard Cohen.

I’ve also been appearing in some magazines.. Mojo gave me a whole page in the current issue. I pushed for a fold out centre spread but they said it wasn”t that kind of magazine.

Jocks&Nerds is a publication that is committed to bringing you both sides of the story. At a push, I’d say I was selected as a nerd. That said, the quality of the paper this is printed on is excellent.. weighing in at a hefty 190gsm with a matt finish that really lets the photos zing.

I think thats enough from me.

…

It has been well documented in Who’s Tinkling? Magazine, that most of my time over the last 6 months has been spent writing and recording music for a film. This has been lovely but hasn’t left any time for finishing off my next record.. I’d love to say that I’m cracking straight on with it now, but obviously I’m not.

Whenever I happen to pick up a copy of The Guardian Weekend Magazine, after I’ve read the Blind Date interview, I usually move on to the Weekend Interview. Being both an optimist and a dreamer, I often Say out loud, adopting my fathers voice ” One day Daniel, that will be you”.. then I hear my neighbours gently chuckle into their glasses of chilled Rose’ as the cork rolls off their picnic table and into the unfathomable depths of a Birkenstock sandal.

So imagine my surprise today when after reading how Jonathon and Desmond got on at Jamie’s Itailian, N1, I turn the pages back to the Weekend Interview and realise…

I’m never going to be asked to do this interview..

So I could just make one up.

…

I TRIED, BUT I JUST COULDN’T MAKE THE ABOVE PICTURE ANY BIGGER.

Please note that the slashes between the numbers don’t indicate indecision from the press i.e Mojo ” We just can’t decide? Its like a 4 or a 5 or something”, or Uncut “hmm, this is definitely a sort of somewhere between an 8 or 9 or 10… something like that I think”. Its just a short hand for saying 8 out of 10. Like the TV show with Jimmy Carr. I like Jimmy Carr. I’ve not seen the show though.

So here’s links to where you can buy the lovely thing:

ROUGH TRADE 

AMAZON

ITUNES

RESIDENT RECORDS

PEOPLE MUSIC SHOP

TRUCK MUSIC STORE

FOPP

STRAIGHT FROM ME 

Sometimes it’s hard to know if you’ve said too little or too mu..

…

As you know, our album launch show is at The Old St Pancras Church on 15th March

http://www.seetickets.com/event/dan-michaelson-the-coastguards-plus-guests/st-pancras-old-church/693538

But what after that? I can’t just go home and light a fire.

So I’ll be supporting the wonderful Beth Orton around the UK this April, playing songs from the new record Blindspot each night before she comes on to play songs from her latest record Sugaring Season. The dates and ticket links are below, this is no time for humour.

4th April The Electric Palace, Bridport

http://www.seetickets.com/event/beth-orton/the-electric-palace/696624

6th April The Junction, Cambridge

http://www.alt-tickets.co.uk/alttickets/home_beth_orton.html

8th April Tyne Theatre, Newcastle

http://www.alt-tickets.co.uk/alttickets/home_beth_orton.html

9th April Liquid Room, Edinburgh

www.gigsinscotland.com

10th April Irish Centre, Leeds

www.lunatickets.co.uk

13th April Academy 2, Oxford

http://www.alt-tickets.co.uk/alttickets/home_beth_orton.html

15th April St Georges Hall, Bristol

http://www.alt-tickets.co.uk/alttickets/home_beth_orton.html

16th April Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

http://www.seetickets.com/event/beth-orton/wedgewood-rooms/694971/

17th April Royal Festival Hall, London

http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/beth-orton-72128

…

EVERGREEN

When all the leaves are brown and fallen to the floor

Been whipped up by the wind and blown around your door

Then I’ll come down from here.. Whisper gently dear

Didn’t we say it would stay green this year.. When we were just beginning here.

A frost the gently thaws and crumbles underfoot

A sheer of misty glass that melts around your shoes

A shaft of burning light that melts the coldest mood

Til I come back to you. Whisper gently dear

Didn’t we say it would stay green this year.. When we were just beginning here

Remember how we swept lost leaves from around those trees

Only fools think love is evergreen

BONES

If you feel that love run cold after crackling through your bones

And tears fall like ash upon your clothes

Is there no one else you know who’ll tell you

Come on home I want you. Come on home I need you here

Come on home I want you. Come on home I need you near

If you feel like you’re alone, If there’s only one shadow

If you’re looking down and only see your own

Is there no one else you know who’ll tell you

Come on home I want you. Come on home I need you here

Come on home I want you. Come on home I need you near

BURNING HEARTS

You’re holding on with all you’ve got I want to be there too

And all along you hum the song we got married to

Can you take it from the top, you know id love you to

Sing the words you know by heart don’t I know them too

But who’s going to know when the needle jumps

And who’s going to know when the quiet comes

To take your love away

You’re holding on to god knows what I want to be there too

And all along you hum the song we got married to

Is there nothing that can stop all the fire in you

Take the burning hearts we’ve got and let the ashes loose

But who’s going to know when the needle jumps

And who’s going to know when the quiet comes

To take your love away

EVERY STEP

I know you’ve heard it all before so I won’t tell you any more

I’ll slip my keys under the door if I don’t need them any more

No more will I wake to kiss your sweet face

I count every footstep that takes me away

I promised a thousand ‘til I turn and say

That I miss you every step of the way

I strip the sheets out from the bed makes it easier to forget

And wipe my footprints from the floor so you forget which size I wore

And take the records that we shared so you can’t hear what isn’t there

And when I’m aching for more we can’t hurt this any more

No more will I wake to kiss your sweet face

I count every footstep that takes me away

I promised a thousand ‘til I turn and say

That I miss you every step of the way

GETTING IT ALL WRONG

I wonder how you’re feeling now

I wonder how you get home when you’ve been out

I held you so close I can’t let go

You left a weight in my arms

I hope you know you left me so far down

And now you’re ready to settle down

Now that you’ve dropped everything

You can live without but got me so, so wrong

Getting it all wrong

EVENING LIGHT

You followed your heart, Is that where you are

I’ve been walking for days, I don’t even know which way

To follow your heart

I know that I’m falling

Like the first drop of rain on the first sunny day

Will I see you again when the mist burns away

On the last of the evening light

I walked through the night to find morning light

Cast shadows of you on a river that won’t run true

But carries your heart

I’m falling

I know that I’m falling again

Like the first drop of rain on the first sunny day

Will I see you again when the mist burns away

On the last of the evening light

YOUR BEAUTY STILL RULES

There’s a hole where the light shines through

Shows the dust in your room

Draws a line that we can’t walk through

Gently keeps me with you

I hold the light in my hands

And warm every bone that I can

When I hold the light in my hands

We know no end

There’s a pile of your cloths half strewn

Barely lit by the moon

On the bed in the coldest room

Where your beauty still rules

I hold the light in my hands

And warm every bone that I can

When I hold the light in my hands

We know no end

SOMEWHERE

We’re on our own, it took some time I know

Now there’s no one else around to show you how

To be alone, to throw you’re hands down

Knowing no one else is there to break your fall

But don’t I own you more, don’t I owe you more..

You feel the draught in every door

So rip the hinges off the wall

And let the wind run down the hall

It doesn’t hurt to change it all

…