MASK frontman and guitarist, Humphrey, is releasing his latest solo single on July 5th, Now and Forever, a track which presents a far different tone from the 1960s rock chops of his debut. The drifting stream of consciousness marries Humphrey’s perfectly judged, soulful vocals with a vibe which is mournful but which still has hope. From the perspective of someone uttering their final words, Now and Forever is starkly beautiful and lingers long after the last chiming chord.

One of Northern Ireland’s hottest new acts of 2018, MASK are still very much a going concern but Humphrey’s solo releases point to an even stronger influence from the music of the 60s, from pop to rock to soul. Now and Forever sees Humphrey recalling a dream in which he views himself from afar as his mortal self nears the end of his life. Listening to himself delivering his own final words, it has given the artist the opportunity reflect on his life and change the way he lives before it’s too late:

“I burnt myself out on making music with MASK. I realised my “I’ll show you” motivation for making music was entirely unhealthy and I made the decision to take six months off. I turned to self-help and I discovered a very existential question which really had an effect on me:

Imagine you are dying and your grandchild is asking you for life advice. What would your dying words to them be? The point of the exercise is, if you’re not living your own life by these words then you are living a lie!
It had a profound effect on me and one night I dreamt that I was actually watching myself die, and so these were my dying words.”

It seems the best artists have the most complicated dreams!

With his debut album due for release later in 2019, Humphrey is looking to use his dreamworld adventures to give audiences the clearest indication yet that when you listen to Humphrey, you really are seeing into the soul of his song-writing.