Reward by Paul Iwan

Released October 11th 2019, this is Paul Iwan's powerful reworking of The Teardrops' 1981 classic 'Reward', infusing the song with heavy synths and driving guitars and taking it to an altogether darker place.

Iwan says: 'Reward is one of the greatest songs to ever come out of Merseyside. Musically incessant and lyrically off kilter, I've adored this song all my life - I wanted to pull the lyrics out and expose their darkness. I always felt it was about loss of control, shame and regret which really resonates with my experiences with addiction. Music wise, I focussed on that bass line which drastically changes the atmosphere from parpy stomper to rumbling impending doom'.

Paul bought Julian Cope's iconic (but broken) 1965 Lime Green Framus guitar, lovingly restored it and used it to record this track.

'It's a really weird story; Bill Drummond was a big believer in what he called interstellar ley lines. He said Liverpool had this direct line into the energy of the universe and you could feel it if you stood on a certain manhole cover in Matthew Street (under the bust of Carl Jung). He'd send the Teardrops and Bunnymen off on tour and stand on this manhole cover soaking up this cosmic energy as they performed. Now, I'm not one to believe that sort of stuff but when I got the message about Julian's Lime Green Framus guitar, I was stood on Matthew Street....under Carl Jungs bust.... on that manhole cover! To say I was a bit freaked out is an understatement'.

Tracklist

1.	Reward	3:44

Credits

released October 11, 2019
Recorded at Studio 45, Liverpool.
Mixed by Andy Fernihough at 3rd Planet Studios, Liverpool.

License