Last of the Lovely Days

Last of the Lovely Days - Interview

by John Clarkson

published: 7 / 9 / 2025

Annie O'Rourke, the frontwoman with Brighton-based indiepop band The Last of the Lovely Days speaks to John Clarkson about their debut album, ;No Public House Talk'.

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The Last of the Lovely Days have released one of the indie pop albums of the year with ‘No Public House Talk’. Annie O Rourke, the frontwoman with the Brighton-based four-piece, with her breezy vocals evocatively captures the fractured turbulence of the lives of the characters that she brings to warm life with her songs. Always sympathetic to them, she articulates their emotions which include profound hurt and melancholy, anger and ultimately resilience always convincingly. O’Rourke, who also plays synths and percussion, is matched in this by a superb, similarly versatile band, which features Jimmy Lager (electric and acoustic guitars, piano, Hammond, backing vocals), Michael Eyers (bass, electric and acoustic guitars, banjo) and Peter Portinari (drums, percussion). ‘No Public House Talk’, which has come out on Gare Du Nord Records, opens with the ringing pop of ‘Runaway’ in which a bored girl dreams of running away to London with her boyfriend, but by the end of the song she wants to runaway from him too. With its big rolls of drums and hazy guitars, the protagonist of ‘Away From Me’, another early highlight, also finds herself let down by a man. “Don’t know what you are doing to me?” sings O’Rourke, crushed. Her counterpart on the soaring ‘To The Earth’, which features additional vocals from Lager, despite quickly being replaced by someone else, comes off much better.. “I am free without you,” she triumphs. “I am being me without you.” Other highlights include the brooding ‘See Me’ in which a rejected girl takes stark comfort in the power of the sea, and an acoustic cover of Sham 69’s under-rated ‘Poor Cow’. The closing track is the balladic ‘Two Rings Don’t Make a Right’ which features Peace Sign’s Keiron Phelon on co-vocals with O’Rourke playing a couple, who, their marriage in fragments, lookback on the failed romantic and other promises of their wedding day (“You so blue and me in white”). “I still love you but I lost you,” they both sing separately at the end of this often most poignant of albums. The Last of the Lovely Days had previously released a double A-sided single, :Just a Chance/There Are No Words’, in 2017. Intrigued and wanting to know more about The Last of the Lovely Days, Penny Black in what is only the band’s interview, spoke to Annie O’Rourke. PB: Why have you decided to call your debut album ‘No Public House Talk’? What does that suggest to you? AO: I always wanted to make music and I always thought ‘No Public House Talk’ would be a great album title. It’s a saying I heard often growing up (one of my uncles used to say it all the time) and I kind of ‘collected’ it for future use. The saying is not uncommon in Ireland and is an emphatic declaration that something said is meant - ‘you look great today and that’s no public house talk!’ Given that I’ve wanted to do something musical for ages and had many doubters and detractors this seemed like a perfect album title. It’s my way of saying ‘See,I meant it, I wasn’t bullshitting!’ PB: The front cover shows four men outside a pub, probably in the 1950s or 1960s, and comes from your family archives. Do you know where that photo was taken? AO: Yes, the photo was taken in Dublin circa 1964. The men in it are (from L-R) my grandad Christopher, my Dad Billy, and my Uncles Paddy and Christy. The pub called Lynch’s at that time is on Aungier Street. It was the family local and featured in many old stories. It’s still a bar but last time I was in Dublin it was a fancy gin/cocktail place. We usually pop in for a drink when we are visiting Dublin. I love the photo though and would do even if I had no connection to it but the fact that my family are in it makes it nice and personal. PB: The majority of the songs seem to be about the break-up of a long-term relationship and learning to first survive on your own. Do you see it as a themed or a concept album? AO: Hhmm, no. It wasn’t intended that way but it does hang together well, thematically. The songs were written over many years and some are imagined scenarios, others have a grain of truth that has been elaborated for creative reasons. Whilst most of the lyrics are mine, some are Jimmy’s and we collaborated with Jeff Newington (our friend and sometimes songwriting partner) on a couple of tracks so he had input too. So, it’s not all about me! Only a few are truly biographical. PB: The band's name suggests something autumnal and beautiful and about to vanish. Why did you call it The Last of the Lovely Days? AO: You’re right, our name certainly has an autumnal vibe. It came to us one sunny October morning- years ago - when the sun was streaming in to our basement bedroom window. Jimmy said ‘this might be the last of the lovely days’ and we both thought - band name! So I stored that away for future use. I think it works for us as an older band too, it’s so evocative of the end of summer and the idea of making the most of time. I love autumn and its imagery. It’s an overlooked season - all those gorgeous colours, the changing light and beautiful sunsets. For me it feels like a season for reinvention and preparing for the next phase and that works with my story too. It has got a melancholy feel to it but in the same way that faded grandeur does and that’s a good thing. PB: “Then I’l just be me staring at the sea,” you sing on ‘See Me’, and “You tied my hands with your wedding plans” on ‘Two Rings Don’t Make a Riight’. Are relationships by their very nature always in the landscape of The Last of the Lovely Days so potentially restricting and destructive? You do melancholic and bittersweet songs brilliantly but do you have it in you to write happier songs? AO: Oh, thank you, that’s good to hear, melancholic and bittersweet songs are so evocative. Sadly, I think many relationships are restricting and destructive but not all. We do have happier songs but they didn’t make the cut for this album. Maybe next time. When writing the lyrics for ‘See Me’ I was thinking a lot about how frustrating it is to be unseen and overlooked and how this makes you feel. It could apply to any dynamic really, not just a romantic relationship. ‘Two Rings Don’t Make A Right’ was a collaboration. The concept was Jimmy’s and it was a scenario based on imagined characters. This was one written with me and Jeff Newington too. Jimmy wrote the ‘you tied my hands…’ lines though, and given that he’s my husband maybe I should be worried! 'To The Earth’ is another song written by me, Jimmy and Jeff and with a semi -imagined narrative. I see this and our song ‘Pale Blue Me’ (which IS about me) as happy break-up songs though. The protagonists are definitely very okay after these two relationships end. PB: You have got an absolutely first-rate band. What is your own and their musical backgrounds? AO: The boys in the band are brilliant, aren’t they?! The band as a whole are very accomplished - decades of experience between Jimmy, Michael and Paul. I’m a relative novice however, this being my band debut. I first set foot in a recording studio about eight years ago when we recorded a single (as The Last of the Lovely Days) as a bit of a project and I only did my first gig in July 2024. That said I’ve been quietly writing songs on my guitar for years now and wanting to do something with them for a very long time. It’s a family affair. Jimmy is my husband and Paul is his brother. They were in bands together as kids and teenagers. Over the years Paul drummed for folk pop singer John Cunningham and was also in the band Fugu. As well as The Last of the Lovely Days, Paul currently drums for local rock band Hunted After Dark. Michael and Jimmy have a long history too. They first played together in a band called The Park in the early ‘90s. Micheal then went on to play in many bands over the years including Caramel Jack. He is also in another band currently, Dreamytime Escorts, who are fab. It’s wonderful that he has joined this ‘family’ now. As well his years with The Park, Jimmy was also in Colourburst in the 90s before going on to co-found The Others in the early 2000s. They had success in that noughties indie scene with albums, chart singles and so on. They are still active now and released their fifth album earlier this year. Jimmy, Michael and Paul really encouraged me to do something with my songwriting so the band pretty much formed itself. I was so lucky to have such experienced and talented musicians backing me. so who else would I have chosen? I was chuffed when they wanted to work with me. We all have very different backgrounds and tastes too and I think this adds something to the creative process. PB: The double A-sided you mentioned 'Just a Chance/There Are No Words' came out in 2017. Why has it taken you so long to follow this up with the album? Similarly why it has taken you until last year to first perform live? AO: It certainly has taken us a while but there are reasons. Firstly, when we went to record the single all those years ago it was only supposed to be a bit of fun, a project really, we didn’t even have a band, as such. The original intention was to come away with a few recordings just for personal use. We only finessed the tracks and released them as a single because it turned out better than I thought - so why not see it through and have something tangible to show for it? There was no clear plan after that but we got good feedback, a bit of radio play and sold a few records so I was in - I had got the bug and we carried on writing songs. So, over time the intention formed to get a band together to record some of those songs. But life got in the way, as the saying goes. During the years following the release of the single all four of us had family members who were sick, so we were involved in caring for them and then sadly they died; inevitably that took its toll. There was also the pandemic, of course, and all that brought with it. Plus I had a very demanding and super busy job that left little time or energy for other things. Eventually I gave the job up and despite all the above mentioned challenges I found I had proper time and I made it a focus. headspace to be more creative and as I had wanted to do something like this for the longest time, So by early 2024 all four of us were ready to go for it and once we started we got on with things at a pace. The time, energy and commitment were there at last so we prepared to go in to the recording studio. That was my plan back then, to just record the songs so that they ‘existed’ , nothing more. At that time I didn’t want to play live. Basically I was too scared! I was used to singing - always putting on ‘shows’ as a kid, singing at family parties and in the school choir, I even had a pretend band at school. However. the idea of singing songs I had written in front of an audience terrified me. It seemed so exposing. But the band and Keiron kept chipping away at the idea of a gig and I began to think why not. So, I did a couple of open mics and that helped my confidence and then I finally said yes when we were offered the chance to open for Keiron and Peace Signs last July. And I loved it, I wasn’t nervous at all. I haven’t looked back. PB: The band's name suggests something autumnal and beautiful and about to vanish. Why did you call it The Last of the Lovely Days? AO: You’re right, our name certainly has an autumnal vibe. It came to us one sunny October morning- years ago - when the sun was streaming in to our basement bedroom window. Jimmy said ‘this might be the last of the lovely days’ and we both thought - band name! So I stored that away for future use. I think it works for us as an older band too, it’s so evocative of the end of summer and the idea of making the most of time. I love autumn and its imagery. It’s an overlooked season - all those gorgeous colours, the changing light and beautiful sunsets. For me it feels like a season for reinvention and preparing for the next phase and that works with my story too. It has got a melancholy feel to it but in the same way that faded grandeur does and that’s a good thing. PB: The penultimate song is a cover of Sham 69’s ‘Poor Me’. It is also the penultimate song on their fourth album ‘The Game’. They are not the most obvious choice to cover and have developed something of a controversial reputation over the years. Why did you decide to cover that? AO: As a band we like doing interesting covers and we all like Sham 69 but Jimmy is a particular fan. So, I’m going ask him to say a bit about that here… JL: I’ve been a big fan of Sham 69 since I was a kid, and always loved love the track ‘Poor Cow’. It shows a different side to them. From what I’ve read, the band had some problems at gigs back in the day with infiltrators causing trouble, but this went against Sham’s ethos of unity. Still going strong, they’re a great band with some fabulous singles and albums, ‘If the Kids are United’ (single) and ‘That’s Life’ (LP) being particular favourites of mine. I sent Dave Parsons, Sham 69’s guitarist, our cover of ‘Poor Cow’ and he was very complimentary about it, which was lovely to hear. AO: From my point of view when I first heard ‘Poor Cow’ I couldn’t believe it was a Sham song. It’s not what I expected from them. It’s so plaintive and I immediately liked it. So. when Jimmy suggested we cover it I was up for it and had the the idea of sixties-ing it up - extra Hammond, acoustic guitar and, of course, the flute. It’s been a work in progress though, we first recorded a demo of it back in 2016 but we’ve certainly improved on that with this final version. Also, the Nell Dunn book and subsequent film ‘Poor Cow’ are favourites of mine too, so that resonated. I often wonder whether they were part of the original inspiration for Dave Parsons and Jimmy Pursey when they wrote the song but that remains unclear. As Jimmy says, it was lovely to get complimented by Dave Parsons about our version of their song. What a thrill! PB: The final song ‘Two Rings Don’t Make a Rightt features on joint vocals Keiron Phelan, who is well known to us at Penny Black and appeared on the bill of our 25th Anniversary gig at the Water Rats. How do you know Keiron Phelan? AO: We wanted the album to end with a ballad and to show another side to us as a band. As mentioned earlier, all four of us have wide, often differing tastes in music so our influences come from all over the place. I love a duet, be that the classic county format (think Johnny and June) or soul style ( like Marvin and Tammi). ‘Two Rings’ definitely echoes those kind of artists. At first we weren’t sure if this song would fit the album but we all loved the song so much we went for it and I guess we managed it. I think it’s a neat ending. And Keiron’s vocal is great addition. His voice fits the mood perfectly. I’ve know Keiron for over thirty years, we worked together way back and quickly became friends. He is another person who has been a champion and an enabler for my musical ambitions. Like Jimmy, Keiron has always encouraged me. He was involved with the recording of our single back in 2016/7 and, as I mentioned, we did our debut gig supporting him and Peace Signs. He’s part of our story, so it feels only right that he sings and plays flute on ‘No Public House Talk’. PB: You have said that the songs were written over several years. What are the oldest and more recent songs? The oldest song on the album is ‘Away From Me’ I wrote that back in 2015 and it was the third song I wrote (the first two being the single). The song that became ‘Runaway’ is even older however, and comes from a time when Jimmy and I would come home after a night out and pick up guitars and see what happened. We had this bit of guitar and some basic lyrics from back then that I thought had something, so we worked on it last year and ended up with the opening track on the album. We have tons of old recordings of part formed songs so it’s a good resource for the future. The newest songs are ‘See Me’ and ‘Fuel For Discontent’. I wrote both of these during the time we were recording - they weren’t supposed to be on the album at all. ‘Fuel For Discontent’ just came to me fully formed. It took about an hour to write and I knew exactly how I wanted it to sound too. ‘See Me’ however really developed during rehearsals. The band took it in a totally new and brilliant direction. So, they are all co-writers for this track and that introduced a new writing dynamic to the band. I hope we can collaborate more on songs going forward. I think the more ways of writing, the better for the band. It’s inclusive, creative and will hopefully produce more ideas and ultimately more songs and that has to be a good thing. PB: You’ve got your album launch at a matinee show at The Prince Albertin Brighton ion the 21st September. What are the band’s plans after that? AO: We are excited about our launch gig and focusing on that now but with one eye on what happens next. We don’t plan to slow down. Our first gig after the launch is booked for November 6th, this time supporting the amazing Rachel Love. I used to go and see Rachel play with Dolly Mixture when I was a teen so I was delighted that she has asked us to do this. It’s kind of ‘pinch myself’ moment. Plus we have more gigs planned too with some great bands lined up to share the stage with. We also have a bunch of songs ready to record. I love recording - for the album we worked with Julian Tardo at Church Road Studios in Hove and he was just brilliant co-producing the album with us. I can’t wait to get back there again. It was such fun last time. But I guess before we do that there’s some more songwriting to do, we’ve got many ideas and some interesting new songs at various stages of readiness but perhaps I should focus on writing a brand new happy song - I mean, it’s been a very exciting and positive adventure so far and there is a LOT to be happy about! PB: Thank you.