The new single from Rees Shad is a thought-provoking, intimate song that remains with you and leads to your own associations of memory and past relationships. “Porcelain Angel” begins beautifully with a tuneful, acoustic strum and plaintive electric notes steering our emotions before Shad’s words take us through his aching, heartfelt thoughts and feelings about an old friend. Shad’s reflective singing is elevated by excellent backing vocals and beautifully-lilting lap steel and instrumental layers. The video, directed by Joe Aidonidis, emphasises the passing of time and connects us to the past through the old photographs that Shad sifts through. It’s a really effective visual that viewers will be affected by, stirring up lost feelings and memories of our own.
Shad says of the song: “We lost someone a couple of years back that we loved, but who, over the years, had become more and more self destructive and insular. The simple explanation is that we had grown apart, but it’s never that simple is it? Last summer he appeared to me in a dream singing a song, the vague remnants of which I wrote down immediately after waking, and that turned into the song you hear here.” That a song so full of emotion, reflection and regret came, literally, in a dream about Shad’s friend is fitting for this sensitive, internal narrative.
This brilliantly-crafted song is the title track from Shad’s new album, due for release on 21st March 2025. Incredibly, this will be his seventeenth solo album, release over four decades. Over the years, he has worked across genres; while “Porcelain Angel” returns to his Americana roots, it is informed by all that creativity and experience across his remarkably consistent and prolific musical career. This musical blend is full of characters and richly-drawn narratives. Shad says: “As with all of my albums, there are new stories here – new characters and situations to present for your consideration – with subtexts that matter. I’m accessing a richer blend of approaches…I see this as stringing another musical pearl on a necklace which I hope you will hold precious and take out when you want to make your day feel a bit more special.” There’s a grace and elegance to Shad’s songwriting and performance that is both absorbing and memorable.
