Brand new single from Bryan Yurcan

Bryan Yurcan has always viewed songwriting as an exercise in observation, finding inspiration in the people, places and passing moments that might otherwise disappear into the background of everyday life. Originally from New York, a city he still considers the greatest in the world, he now lives in Pennsylvania, where the cost of living offers a more practical alternative. Working as a solo songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, he describes his sound as ‘garage folk,’ a style built around suburban pastoralism, genuine stories and an interest in how the present influences our recollections of the past.

An intimate tone frames his sound but also a certain grit, with much of Bryan’s songwriting starting with something outside himself. By not consistently drawing on personal experiences, he’s more likely to find a song in somebody he notices on the street, a moment in nature or a conversation overheard in passing. Sometimes the lyrics arrive first, sometimes the music, but neither takes priority as a rule, a process which allows an idea to develop according to what it needs.

Over the years, he’s also worked with several fellow multi-instrumentalists, whose contributions have helped shape the final form of his recordings. Away from music, Bryan is notably uninterested in maintaining an online presence and as such, he avoids social media, a choice which reflects a wider scepticism towards contemporary online behaviour. The language he uses to explain that position also hints at something central to his songwriting, an appreciation for words, their precision and the different meanings they can carry.

It’s perhaps fitting, then, that his latest single takes an observation about English football and turns it into an unexpectedly affectionate tribute to a club and a city he’s never actually visited. “The Long Throw in From Stoke (Rainy Tuesday Night)” is a departure from the more laid back music he usually makes, leaning instead towards the sharper, more energetic feel of the Buzzcocks.

Its origins can be traced back to around 2012, when NBC acquired the rights to the Premier League and began broadcasting matches live across the United States. English football had previously been available to American viewers but coverage was less frequent and often delayed. Bryan happened to tune in to Stoke City, where the commentary offered a particularly unflattering assessment of the team’s approach, describing the players as talentless hacks who relied on physical, sometimes borderline dirty football and long throws into the penalty area.

That impression took on another dimension when, some time later, a British football commentator made the now familiar observation about Lionel Messi, “yeah but can he do it on a rainy Tuesday night in Stoke.” The remark was widely criticised but placed alongside the earlier commentary, it helped create a lasting image in Bryan’s imagination. Stoke became a place defined by hard work, determination and the need to fight for everything, with the football club and the city becoming intertwined in a distinctly television-shaped picture of English grit.

Recorded and produced with Matt Molchany at Shards Recording Studio in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, “The Long Throw in From Stoke (Rainy Tuesday Night)” finds Bryan Yurcan taking an unlikely subject and approaching it with the same observational curiosity that informs his wider catalogue. It may not be the sound listeners expect from his usual output but its combination of humour, affection and charm makes it a superb addition to his work and for Stoke City supporters, there’s a simple hope that the people who know those rainy Tuesday nights best will hear the song and appreciate the sentiment.

Commenting on the release, he shares, “I wanted to write something that sounded like it could’ve come out of a dingy English pub in 1978, somewhere between a football chant and a punk rock song. I’ve always loved the raw energy of late-’70s British punk. This song is my attempt to capture that sound, with a little football obsession thrown in.”

Listen to The Long Throw in From Stoke (Rainy Tuesday Night) below