Poet and writer Antony Szmierek plays Brighton on back of debut album
Manchester-based poet, writer and producer Antony Szmierek plays Concorde 2, Brighton on March 29 following the release of his album Service Station At The End Of The Universe, which is via Mushroom Music/Virgin Music Group.
His latest single is The Great Pyramid Of Stockport.
He explains: “Stockport Council abandoned plans for a Valley of the Kings themed shopping plaza, leaving only an empty pyramid behind. Nobody really knows what the pyramids in Giza are for. What we do know is that we’re not here long, and that the impossible is more possible than we think it is, motivationally speaking. That big blue pyramid serves as a reminder that human beings never really change – even if our pyramids are now by the side of motorways and full of office space.”
The single is accompanied by an official video that features Antony against the backdrop of Stockport’s pyramid-shaped abandoned shopping plaza, juxtaposed with scenes from the real pyramids of Egypt.
Spokesman James Wallace said: “The past few years have been a wild ride for the artist. Cutting his teeth on the Manchester spoken word scene and gaining notoriety for his seamless flow skewering everything from the hardships of contemporary British life to finding the unexpected beauty in the everyday, it was the 2023 release of his single The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Fallacy that kicked off his meteoric ascent. Set against the backdrop of a pounding kick drum and club-ready synths, Szmierek lets loose a stream of consciousness that lays out his vision of musical vulnerability and communal escapism.
“The earworming record soon found its way onto the BBC 6 Music airwaves and led Szmierek to be named an Artist of the Year 2023 by the station. There followed appearances on Later… with Jools Holland, a BBC Radio 1 Maida Vale session, multiple triumphant Glastonbury sets and a flurry of comparisons: to the pavement prose of The Streets, the poetry of John Cooper Clarke if he found himself at the Haçienda, or like Jarvis Cocker for the UK Garage generation. Yet, with the release of his 2023 indie-influenced EP Poems To Dance To and now his debut album, Service Station at the End of the Universe, Szmierek cements his sound as one that is distinctly his own.”