“TOO Many Songs” is the latest single from One Cure For Man, a music project by artist James Parkinson from Barnoldswick.

The song incorporates melancholy piano and vocals with melodic guitars, haunting strings and a strong narrative on the importance of songwriting as an art-form, he says.

“In a world of instant gratification and the decline of cherishing records, inhaling the sleeve and memorising the lyrics, Too Many Songs asks the question, ‘Is there still room for everlasting `songwriting?’” he says.

“What drives me as a creator and songwriter has always been a constant search for depth, meaning, and truth.

“I’ve always sought to write great lyrics and express myself through music that’s inspired by many different influences like film, art, poetry, culture and exploring the human condition.

“Too Many Songs is not as much about the struggle to write a song with meaning, depth or emotion but the struggle to get the world to listen to it.

“Songs are becoming more one dimensional and simple, dominated by the novelty of technology and sound. People seem to want easy, catchy songs and struggle to understand complex lyrics, subject matters or chord sequences. I’m still optimistic there is an audience, but you can’t help feeling the sense of loss and the decline of songwriting as an art-form.”

James, a music teacher of all ages, says musically the song ponders on the ‘influences of ballad David Bowie, the grandness of Suede and the epic Manic Street Preachers as well as melancholy muses, Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera and Colin Vearncombe.

Too Many Songs was recorded at James’ home studio, with the final version a partnership with Matt Heap, of Honeyspider.

James performed all the vocals and instruments with the exception of the drums, which were played by his brother, Ben.

The video, by Jason Marshall, was shot in James’ Victorian house and was inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper, Caravaggio and Rembrandt.

“The Edward Hopper House Museum in New York is planning on showing it which is fantastic news,” he said.

Too Many Songs is available on streaming and digital music platforms, and the video can be viewed on the One Cure For Man YouTube channel.