Logan's Autumn

An epic 12-minute, double track blending progressive rock opera and hard rap with brass, woodwind and a striking short film is due to be released by a Kent singer, songwriter and bass player.

Lenny Bunn, from Sellindge, is the former bass player with four-piece Indie/rock band Clacket Lane. The father-of-four, who launched a recording studio in Westenhanger last year, has teamed up with rap artist Jess Bond aka Meesta Bond and Colin O'Reilly of Ameba Films to produce Logan’s Autumn - combining a gritty look at the melting pot of today’s political picture with a second haunting track of loss.

Prompted by Donald Trump’s ‘fire and fury’ speech and partly named in reference to Grenfell Tower’s final victim, stillborn baby Logan, the first track is a critique of power being in the hands of controversial figures such as Trump.
Lenny, who has shared the stage with stars including Dizzy Rascal, Feeder, Razorlight, The Feeling and Scouting for Girls and launched solo album “& Friends” to critical acclaim in 2015, said: “Logan is my view on the crazy world we find ourselves currently living in and Autumn is a song about loss.

“They came about at the same time last year. I'd started Logan to put forward for a documentary brief, but I liked it a bit too much. I was setting myself targets as a writer and I remember thinking how I'd never covered politics or my view, I used to think that it was a bit above my station, however the world right now is anyone’s stage. It was on the day I saw the 'Fire and Fury' Trump speech I thought ‘that’s it...I can't not do it.’

“It is a reflection of people’s honest opinion on the state of world politics. People are genuinely concerned about all things political at the moment as it seems the lunatics have taken over the asylum.”

The opening of the track is reminiscent of big rock opera productions such as The Wall by Pink Floyd and Tommy by The Who but then is injected with rap lyrics from Jess Bond.
Father-of-four Lenny said: “From the outset I knew I would need a different outlook and I am, as a producer, always interested in crossing genres and working with other artists. I was very aware that without bringing in a younger outlook on what’s going on in the world, I would probably be seen as another middle-aged man moaning about politics.

“I needed a rapper so I could be a bit delicate around the vocal and then they could come in and smash it. Jess did just that, he absolutely got what the project was about from the offset and then he nailed it.
“I think we have put down a great example of how music is music, no matter your genre preference, age, colour, creed or religion. I am very proud of this piece.”

Folkestone rap and hip hop artist Jess, who describes the track as ‘a bit Pink Floyd, a bit Led Zeppelin,’ added: “The lyrics and the intro samples made it pretty easy for me to get started, dare to dream is a wonderful turn of phrase - dripping with irony when said by a politician- and that was that. I tried to convey the same sentiment as Lenny, taking steps back to try to look at a bigger picture where we as a race can, and have, reached incredible new heights yet the day Mars is colonised is the day we start warring on an interplanetary scale. “We're a war like creature, afraid of warlike tendencies but all too keen to commit to violence if we gain from it.”

The film created for the piece uses a striking collage of symbolic, modern day political and emotional imagery. It was shot in Folkestone, Dungeness and at Lenny’s studio tucked away on rural land in nearby Westenhanger.

Folkestone film producer Colin O’Reilly said: “When I first heard Lenny's unmixed track I jumped at the chance to be involved with this epic musical piece. The idea of a blank canvas was a real pulling point to let me unleash some symbolic visuals alongside Lenny's eclectic visual ideas.”