Anyone familiar with Liverpool’s live music circuit will know Daniel Astles – a songwriter who has plied his trade around the city for years, sporadically releasing songs likened to sprinkling the Lee Mathers fairy dust.
That same fairy dust is bottled up and ready to explode, as Astles readies the release of his LP, Soundtrack for the Twenty One Bus Home – set for release tomorrow via Liverpool label, Defend Vinyl Records.
Backed by Sophie Ellis (producer, engineer, backing vocals, keyboards), Matthew Phillips (string arrangements, drums, cello, piano, vocals), Finlay Lovett (bass, guitar, vocals), Louie Miles (piano, guitar, vocals, keyboards), Harry Handford (drums, percussion) and Martin Smith (horns), Soundtrack for the Twenty One Bus Home sees Astles dispense something akin to a Best-of, putting his best foot forward at every turn.
The woozy, slacker echoes of Joe Are You Listening and Flying Machines; the jangle, sunroof sway of We Could’ve Been Anything (featuring Bill Ryder Jones on guitar); the album highlight, Any Kind – a song that lights up the room with big, open-hearted choruses. It’s these moments that reveal the Astles story – one inspired by family and, in many ways, one that is an ode to Liverpool.
Ahead of the release of Soundtrack for the Twenty One Bus Home as well as his U.K. tour in June, Astles took part in our 13 Questions feature.
1. You’ve been around for some years now. How much emphasis do you have on recording and releasing songs. For instance, is it as important as, say, playing shows regularly?
Daniel Astles: “I think they are all equally as important, but they shift. When I first started gigging when I was 16, about 10 years ago, that was all that mattered to me. I just loved being out and about playing everywhere I could. I had a short set, and I played it over and over. But now my interested has shifted towards writing and producing songs for sure. I get the most joy from writing a new song I like, it’s the easiest way for me to access self-worth through creativity. Recording and releasing music is a part of that step, too – I love to record. Releasing is strange, it’s scary, underwhelming and fulfilling at the same time. It’s always nice to see how people react but also, you just put it out and see how it goes.”
2. There’s a harrowing story behind the inspiration of Soundtrack for the Twenty-One Bus Home, how long did it take to write and record?
DA: “A couple of the songs have been knocking around for a while. At least five years. Started recording the record in 2022 and it was finished the end of last year. But as they say, you have the whole of your life to write your debut album. It did feel like that to a degree.”
3. The album has an eclectic range of songs and reading about it and its inspirations, it feels like a reflection of that. Was that the intention?
DA: “It was! I wanted it to play out like a mixtape you would find forgotten in someone’s loft. The idea was all the songs had their unique identity, sonic pallet, instrumentation etc. Obviously they are all bound together by my voice and songwriting, but they stand tall as individuals as well. As any mixtape would. I think that we achieved this really well, it has nods to lots of different songs that appeared on my uncle’s original tape.”
4. The artwork really brings it all together, too. Had you had that picked out before the album was done?
DA: “Me and my partner Charlie [Ann Buxton] had the idea for a long time. She has always done my artwork and I’d struggle without her talents on that front. We wanted it to be a collection of items that had meaning. For example, my Mum’s ring, my Nana’s rosary beads, a picture of me as a child and my uncle’s tape. The backdrop of the cover is a newspaper clipping of my great great Nana Agnes’ party. She had so many family members (122 in total) that The Echo wrote this piece talking about her being surprised by them all in The Derby Arms in Bootle. I thought it was just an incredible photo and thought it had a lot of power as a backdrop. Emphasising the themes of family on the record.”
5. Any Kind is one of the best tracks you’ve written, in my opinion. Do you remember writing that one?
DA: “Thank you! I do actually. Some songs fall naturally, and some songs are like little experiments and this was the latter. I wanted to write a song, like an ABBA song, that seemed so jolly and upbeat in nature, almost twee. But had an underbelly of darkness within the lyrics. Some of the best songs ever as the sad songs hidden within happy melodies this was one of them. I recorded the majority of the instrumentation for the track on the day I wrote it, and it felt very natural after that. It’s one I love to play.”
6. Bill Ryder-Jones guests on the album, and at times, your songs actually remind me of A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart – has that been a crucial album for you over the years?
DA: “He does. I love Bill’s music, it was very important to me when I was younger and still means a lot to me now. His album West Kirby County Primary was the one that got me into his music, but yeah Bad Wind… was the one that I hold dearly now.”
Astles - Soundtrack for the Twenty One Bus Home7. As a current artist, do you constantly seek out new music, or are you more rooted to your past influences?
DA: “A bit of both really, I love listening to songs I know inside out to try and find new things about it that I like, and try and figure out the secrets they hold. But I am always interested in hearing new music. I think when I was 15 I was always on the look-out for new music. That appetite has decreased, but I still love discovering new stuff.”
8. How much do you think Liverpool influence your songs?
DA: “Greatly. It’s where I live and all my family is from, a lot of my favourite bands and artists are from Liverpool, it seeps in everywhere. There is a lot of inspiration everywhere in Liverpool, so I think its hard to avoid.”
9. Do you have any hobbies outside of music?
DA: “Reading, swimming, writing poems, football, spending time with my family and friends. I would like to get into acting one day, though!”
10. What’s your take on social media – do you see social media as a necessary evil, or is it something you enjoy participating in?
DA: “Necessary evil, but look, you can be creative with it and try and do interesting stuff. I like to see it as a diary for my creative stuff. Put it all out there to see what sticks. But I wouldn’t say I enjoy it, I enjoy making things though, so I like that part.”
11. Favourite records so far in 2025 so far?
DA: “I’m really into the last Bon Iver album! That made me feel 17 again, it was beautiful!”
12. You said you enjoy reading, what was the last book you read?
DA: “This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff, leant to me by fellow musician, Ellis Murphy!”
13. Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. Any last words?
DA: “Thank you for the questions! Please listen to the record and come see us on tour, we play the Bluecoat on June 21.”
Astles U.K. tour
- Wednesday, June 18: The Waiting Room, Stoke Newington
- Thursday, June 19: Oporto, Leeds
- Friday, June 20: Attic Bar, The Garage, Glasgow
- Saturday: June 21, The Bluecoat, Liverpool
Soundtrack for the Twenty One Bus Home is out tomorrow via Defend Vinyl Records. Purchase from Bandcamp.
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