A gifted songwriter with a soulful, whiskey-soaked voice, Jon Allen has established a cult following which has seen him exceed 40 million streams, feature on Later… with Jools Holland, write alongside Sir Paul McCartney, tour with Mark Knopfler and support Kaleo. Now Jon introduces his most ambitious album project, Seven Dials which will be released on May 2nd, by sharing his new single White Gold.
Jon Allen
Operating on the intersection between folk rock, British roots and rugged alt-country, White Gold transports us back to 18th century London and into the midst of the nefarious underground sugar trade of the time. Conveyed with a vocal that feels like the missing link between Paul Rodgers and Paolo Nutini, Jon evocatively depicts a forgotten time in the capital’s history: one in which entrepreneurship, nefarious plotting, and the sheer desperation to survive were all intertwined.
Jon says: “The song’s title refers to the slang name given to sugar, a valuable commodity in 18th century London. Often illicitly procured and traded as currency on the thriving black market. I wanted to capture the allure and danger of chasing something you know might destroy you. ‘White Gold’ is a metaphor for desire, addiction, and the extremes we go to for escape or a fleeting sense of freedom. It’s about living on the edge – where the stakes are high, and every moment feels like a gamble. This song reflects both the intoxicating highs and the inevitable crash, a bittersweet dance with something you can’t quite let go of.”
White Gold offers a taste of the rich narratives that run throughout the upcoming Seven Dials album. Nowadays, Seven Dials is a memorable location in central London: one with an inimitable mix of the old and the new; longstanding institutions such as the Cambridge Theatre and The Crown pub next to corporate coffee houses and upmarket shops. But back then, Seven Dial was a dilapidated slum, thriving only via the mass of down-on-their-luck souls who reluctantly called it their home.
Collectively, the album imagines the struggles of the area: the desperation, the poverty, the scheming and the low-level criminality. Yet while its stories are very much centred in time and place, the emotions that flow from it are curiously indistinguishable from many of our present day experiences.
Jon Allen will celebrate the release of Seven Dials by hitting the road with his band The Luna Kings: Randall Breneman (guitar), Phil Brickell (bass) and Adam Skinner (drums). Tickets for the following shows are available HERE.
MAY
16th – Cardiff, Acapela Studio
24th – London, Bush Hall
29th – Haarlem, Patronaat
30th – Rotterdam, Rotown
31st – Utrecht, Tivoli
JUNE
1st – Groningen, De Oosterpoort
5th – Odense, Dexter
19th – Barnoldswick, Music and Arts Centre
20th – Newcastle, The Cluny
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