15/05/2026
Songwriter Gabriel Stebbing AKA Songs for days releases his debut album under his new moniker - 'Goat asleep' is out 15 May 2026 on 21CC, via AWAL distribution.
The Metronomy and Christine and the Queens collaborator has finally realised his childhood dream of being a one-man band, writing, performing and producing the 11 tracks at his seaside studio in Margate, UK. Classic songwriting chops evidence his affection for everyone from Harry Nilsson, Paul McCartney and The Breeders to João Gilberto, Neil Young and Brian Wilson.
The album kicks off with the low-slung glam pop of Daddy's in drag, Songs for days' debut single and a favourite of BBC 6Music's Marc Riley. Inspired by Margate's supportive DIY and q***r communities, it's about taking the time out to hibernate and coming back better. Next, the follow-up single Copilot truly kicks proceedings into gear. The sole track on the record written and produced collaboratively (with Zoë Mead AKA producer/singer/songwriter Wyldest), it captures the buzz of driving home after playing a show, and the camaraderie of friends and bandmates keeping each other awake while the tunes are turned up loud in the front of the van.
Climbed the canyon recalls the wistfulness of Elliott Smith, telling the story of a walk home at sunrise shared by fleeting friends. Guess what is different territory altogether - bringing to mind 'Friends'-era Beach Boys fronted by Jim O'Rourke, it's a twinkling, orchestrated paean to the thrill of hearing a postcard pop through your letterbox.
The next two tracks share introspective, bossa nova influences, albeit with very different subject matters. Please Mr. President is told from the point of view of a griping, exiled political lackey, years after a failed coup by his erstwhile boss. Cloud cuckooland is a portrait of a moment in time shared by a father and his youngest child, walking at dawn on a May morning.
At just over halfway through the album's runtime, A golden bullet opens 'Goat asleep's side two. The groove recalls Crazy Horse at their most swinging, cueing up the Nilsson-esque Never wrote a love song - a barroom lament that's almost, but not quite, on the verge of falling off its stool.
Be alive (a curse) continues the smokey feel, with shades of early Hall & Oates and a guitar solo that explodes out of the anguished, repetitive lyrics. Finally, Songs for days and Then clarity are almost twins. Concerned with the transcendent beauty of love, they mark a coming of age for Stebbing as a songwriter. Of the tune Songs for days, he says:
"This was the last song I wrote for the album, and it's the first song I've written in my life where the craft and the inspiration worked completely in simpatico - I knew exactly the effect that I wanted the words and music to have, and the compositional and lyrical material it would need. It was then a case of assembling it piece by piece, guided by my inner voice. It's as if the door to a new world has been opened for me".
With 'Goat asleep', Stebbing has found the quiet confidence in his abilities as a writer, performer and producer that had until now eluded him. This is the beginning of what will be a long and fruitful journey.
