Northumberland singer-songwriter secures record deal with debut album due out this month

It is a dream come true for Brian English who has been writing songs since he was a schoolboy.

Now 44, he has been signed to Southampton-based record label K Dragon Records and his first album, A Sentimental Alien, is out on October 18.

“It feels really good to have this happen,” said Brian. “I have been writing songs since the age of 12, my first song was called I’m Wide Awake.

“I remember my middle school music teacher Pauline Davison telling me I could have a record out some day. In my early teens I often played in school assembly, to different year groups and on some occasions the whole high school. I sent cassette tapes away in 1991, and throughout the 90s, then it was CDs and then Mp3.”

The album will be available in digital stores and on streaming sites, with ‘Time Ran Away’ set to be the first single to be released.

The label has also sent the song, That’s What They Do, which was shot in Newcastle, to radio stations in Britain and abroad, while the album has been registered for the American and Canadian charts.

Brian, who for many years has been recording with Ally Lee at Mill Studios in Alnwick, has also signed another deal with R&S Records as a lyricist.

In 2017, he paid tribute to his home town in the song Amble Town which has now had over 45,000 views. The catchy song describes Amble as lovely, says there is lots to see and praises the community spirit.

The video, filmed and edited by Andrew Bryson Photography, shows Brian in places around Amble, including the war memorial and Harbour Village.

He has also used his own mental-health struggles to pen an inspirational track, Panic Attack, about living with anxiety. The track’s video, also filmed by Andrew Bryson, featured the telephone number for Samaritans.

As part of his awareness attempts, Brian – who suffered with anxiety in the 1990s – also produced a self-help video on the Facebook page Understanding Anxiety by Brian English.