Here is the video premiere of the excellent new single from Billy Raffoul. He launches immediately into a harmonica blast and a forceful acoustic strum for this plea against systemic racism, “You should have gotten three points // Not the point of a gun // They say we’ve come a long way // We’ve still a long way to come.” It’s a stripped-back, sparsely-arranged protest song, and all the more emotional for it. ‘What Makes a Man’ was the final song written and recorded for Raffoul’s new album. He explains: “I knew I wanted another song, and with so many important things going on in the world I was finding it hard to write another love song. I thought about how since the quarantine started in March I had been driving my car around with expired plates for three months. I couldn’t get down to Nashville to get new tags, yet still I didn’t think twice about it. I can’t help but feel like that is a confidence that only privilege can give you.”
The new album, ‘International Hotel’, is due for release on 28th August and is the follow-up to three well-received EPs. All the songs on the album were recorded using two microphones in the intimate surroundings of his girlfriend’s room in his hometown of Leamington, Ontario. That simple approach suits the songs well.
Influenced by his musical father, who opened for the likes of Joe Cocker and Bon Jovi, Raffoul began writing music at just ten years old. By 16, he was playing his first paid gig for long-haul drivers at a truck stop local to his farming town of Leamington. Since then, Billy Raffoul has come a long way and is definitely one to watch.
