You’ll recall that Ron Pope, in the exclusive Mini-Gig for Americana UK, told us “Everybody, stay inside, wash your hands and I will see you on the other side of this nonsense.” True to his word he’s set out on his first full-band tour in almost four years; the festivities began on February 13th, but don’t get too excited, it’s a US tour. Well, that’s the way it goes. Good news though is that he has also released a new single ‘I’m Not The Devil‘ via Brooklyn Basement Record. The song features vocals from Taylor Bickett, who will also be the opener for Ron Pope on that aforementioned tour.
The song is a sort of an apology for things not working out – most specifically the thing of a relationship which has gone South, for which the narrator is sorrowful about but doesn’t feel able to shoulder all the blame for how events have turned out. Ron Pope has explained that the song has taken some inspiration from life – he had a cousin who had a volatile relationship with a girlfriend: “They were crazy around each other; in love like crazy, fight like crazy, break up like crazy, the whole thing was like a game of Ring Around The Rosie, where they spun in a circle faster and faster until eventually one of them let go, and they flew apart and crashed into the ground. Then they’d turn some invisible corner, making up like nothing happened, her sitting in his lap, whispering in his ear. I guess we always knew that they were doomed, but it seemed to me like they had a hell of a ride getting there and it was really nobody’s fault in the end.”