Sea Girls band members who met at school in Rutland discuss impact of returning home on band's second album Homesick

Since forming, Sea Girls have toured America, played Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2021, and are set for a European Tour this month, starting out in Amsterdam on March 26. The band’s name comes from a misheard lyric from Nick Cave’s ‘Water’s Edge’.

The title of the band’s first album ‘Open Up Your Head’ was inspired by an accident that left Henry with post-concussion disorder and how the experience allowed him to write more truthfully

The 27-year-old said: “What I can say about that is, I never took concussion seriously before that.

“It was really eye opening how that affected me. We’ve got to look after our heads.”

Much of Sea Girls’ upcoming second album, ‘Homesick’, is inspired by Henry’s experiences of coming home to Grantham during lockdown.

Henry said: “Going home, it just reset my thinking and I’ve been sort of all over, constantly on tour before, but it made me think about growing up a lot.

“I felt very grounded just being in the same place, not going away and just being in Lincolnshire. I think I was more aware of who I am because of that.

“I just felt like I had such clarity, writing about life and bigger issues like losing a friend and I felt I could do that in a way that was good enough.”

Henry explained that staying with his parents and revisiting familiar places like the local shop made him feel “grounded” and “connected to life”.

In particular, the chorus of ‘Sick’, one of the songs on ‘Homesick’, was inspired partly by his baby nephew, but Henry adds that the song is also “compounded by the monotony of lockdown, that sort of claustrophobia.”

He added: “At the end of the song, I’m just like, I need to actually grow up and own some of the stuff I’ve done.”

When asked what his favourite song from the new album was, Henry said that ‘Lucky’ stood out.

He said: “That again was from being at home and mum showing me stuff from my grandparents and great grandparents. There was a letter from my great grandad to my grandma and great grandma, and he’d written that just before he went over to D-Day. It was really old, and it was just so powerful to read

“It ended: “the guns sound terrible, kiss Cynthia in bed for me” and then that’s it.

“It was just quite amazing reading a letter that was maybe the last thing he’d write and it made me feel very connected to my family and where I come from, and I just felt very lucky.”

Henry added that ‘Lucky’ is a very Lincolnshire grounded song and that he sees it as a positive song which acts as an antidote to ‘Sick’.

As well as writing, Henry and the rest of the band used lockdown to connect with fans via Zoom, hosting Netflix parties where everyone would watch the same film together, with Henry adding that it was “pretty cool” to stay connected to their fans who had followed the band’s journey.

When asked about his own musical influences, Henry said: “I’d say I love Brandon Flowers. The Killers were a big thing when I got onto music. I loved Amy Winehouse, lyrically her story-telling.

“I always try and just be really flippant and kind of self deprecating in lyrics if I feel it, because that’s what she did. She was amazing and also just the way she sung. She didn’t have to hit the notes, she sounded amazing.

“Obviously, I don’t have a voice like Amy Winehouse, but just that kind of carefree attitude to putting a vocal down, I love.

“I was right round in that sort of guitar era. Bloc Party was a big moment. The first gig I ever saw was Bloc Party at Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace, London), which we’re playing this year actually.

“I think we’re just inspired by the open road. I love the idea of going on tour all the time.”

Henry did note that it was frustrating to spend so long without playing live shows due to Covid restrictions and said that the band were “itching” to get back on stage as soon as possible.

He said: “For a start, I was like we could do with a reset, but as it went on, I was worrying about people we worked with in the live business. The live business was closed for over a year, it got super frustrating.”

When asked about the best venues that he had played, Henry said: “Brixton O2 was a big deal to play definitely, so was Barrowlands in Glasgow. I describe it as a scary venue.

“One of my favourite gigs we’ve done was Brixton. That whole tour was just fantastic, getting out. It was awesome, every room was great, but Brixton yeah that was a special moment and Ally Pally will be.”

Henry remarked that he enjoyed the romantic nature of a smaller, intimate gig, but admitted that he loves playing big shows.

He continued: “We’ve got an album out very soon in the next few weeks. We’re going round Europe, we’ve got loads of festivals. I mean it’s just great. This year’s going to be great. It was so good just getting going last year.”

‘Homesick’ by Sea Girls is available now.