Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires

Brian Bilston is one of the UK's most popular poets. The Catenary Wires are a group comprising Amelia Fletcher, Rob Pursey and Ian Button.

'Sounds Made By Humans' isn't a set of readings with musical backdrops: it's a collection of songs, where words and music have become completely intertwined. There are verses, and there are choruses. There is no 'riffing', no improvisation.

In many ways, Brian's poems are already like pop songs: brief, direct, and witty; sometimes poignant, sometimes biting and political; but always economical, and always accessible.

Rob took thirteen of Brian's poems and created melodies and arrangements, which are then played by a full band, with Ian Button on drums and Fay Hallam on keyboard. Sometimes the words of the poems are sung by Amelia or Rob. Sometimes they are spoken by Brian. Sometimes both these things happen at once.

This is a pop record where the poetry and the music are equal partners: sounds made by humans in perfect artistic alignment.