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We recently reviewed The Smile You Send Out Returns To You, the forthcoming new album from the acclaimed Scottish band Constant Follower, led by singer-songwriter Stephen McAll. Thomas Blake called it an incredibly moving and distinctive album.
Among the new songs on the album, Blake notes that ‘Patient Has Own Supply‘, with its simple, strummed acoustic guitar, seems like the album’s most conventional song. But it delivers a deeply personal message, and with Andrew ‘Kurd’ Pankhurst’s lap steel added to the heavyweight production, it sounds like No Other-era Gene Clark filtered through 90s slowcore. It’s also our Song of the Day.
Released today as the album’s third single, ‘Patient Has Own Supply’ tells a deeply personal story rooted in McAll’s teenage years. Following a harrowing experience with substance experimentation that led to hospitalisation, he received little compassion or guidance, leaving him feeling isolated and abandoned. The title of the song echoes the clinical phrase coldly written on his discharge form. The single pairs McAll’s haunting vocals with a dark, immersive soundscape, evoking the silent battles often fought alone and the inner resilience required to survive them.
The single comes alongside a moving and powerful music video directed by McAll’s childhood friend. Of the video, he says:
“The video for Patient Has Own Supply was directed by Martin J Pickering, who grew up with me in Glasgo. We shared many of the same formative experiences, both good and bad. The faceless beast, the Constant Follower, represents the trauma that so many of us carry. On the occasion of my greatest need from the NHS, I experienced isolation and fear at the hands of those who were supposed to care for me, and that feeling still lingers. The video also reflects the deeper, ongoing failure of systems meant to heal but which too often leave us with more scars—something I was reminded of recently with the loss of my friend Jake, who was killed while under the care of NHS Forth Valley Psychiatric Services.”
Starring Jack Harrison and Matt Bowmer.
Constant Follower Live Dates
8th Nov Kirkcaldy, King’s Theatre
16th Nov Kinloss, The Loft
13th Dec Stirling, The Smith
14th Dec London, Kings Place
27th Feb Glasgow, Cottiers Theatre (Album Launch)
Pre-Order (Vinyl LP / CD / Lossless DL):https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/products/constant-followe-new-vinyl-lp-cd-lossless-dl-exclusive
It may have taken McAll two decades to realise his musical ambitions in the face of personal hardship, but that long gestation period has resulted in a handful of releases that are characterised by maturity, perfectionism and an unmatched emotional depth. It feels as if the songs on The Smile You Send Out Returns To You have been nurtured, perhaps subconsciously, over that whole twenty-year period, resulting in an incredibly moving and distinctive album.
Thomas Blake, KLOF Mag
