Paul Draper - Omega Man (feat. Steven Wilson) (Official Video)

Buy/stream the new album 'Cult Leader Tactics': https://pauldraper.lnk.to/CultLeaderTactics Video directed by George Laycock / https://black-tide.co.uk Lyrics: It’s cold outside but I don’t mind about the weather I’ve got a bloody nose and I need to find my feet Starry eyes And there’s someone standing by the road He feels his life is running slow He wonders if he has a space Amongst the overcrowded place before him I have to stay inside All I think of is you But I am trapped and all denied Wonder what you are doing now All I think of is you There is nothing I can do I lost you Sometimes I don’t care about the future It’s just time to come and things unknown Starry eyes But the sounds of trains and summer rain They serve to take me back to where I always feel at home And where I always will belong The bruising of my mind I had to stay inside All I think of is you But I am trapped and all denied Wonder what you are doing now All I think of is you There is nothing I can do I lost you ‘Omega Man’ was written and recorded remotely by Paul Draper and Steven Wilson during the Covid 19 lockdown without ever meeting, which is conveyed in the accompanying video. They exchanged ideas, lyrics and music from their home studios to articulate what they were experiencing as a piece of music. The song’s lyrics reflect the isolation and fears of lockdown, with Paul singing about his fear of losing a loved one without being able to see them before they are gone. With both Paul and Steven feeling the lockdown experience was like being in the film The Omega Man, the post-apocalyptic 1971 film based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 book I Am Legend, the title of the song was born. The accompanying video captures this desolation. Filmed and set in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine, video director George Laycock (Blacktide Phonic/Visual: www.black-tide.co.uk) and Paul wanted a suitable location to convey and illustrate the lyrics and meaning of the song. The city of Pripyat where the video was filmed, was evacuated the day after the Chernobyl disaster, and is abandoned to this day. All the footage had to be cleared by the Ukranian military, especially as the end scenes were filmed next to a nuclear missile early warning radar detector, which was abandoned after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. ‘Omega Man’ is taken from the forthcoming album Cult Leader Tactics. A satire on the genre of self-help manuals, it details how to get to the top of your chosen profession, or how to get on in life in general and in affairs of the heart, by acting in a Machiavellian manner and employing dirty tricks or ‘Cult Leader Tactics’ to achieve your life goals. After experiencing these types of human behaviour and themes, the album arrives at the conclusion the only true answer in life is love. These and other themes are subtly referenced in each song and explored on a collection of Paul’s best songwriting since Mansun’s imperial phase. Nowhere is this exemplified more than on the instantly catchy and destined to be classic, ‘You’ve Got No Life Skills, Baby!’, which is reminiscent of the best artrock-meets-pop moments of Mansun’s Attack Of The Grey Lantern. Paul plays the majority of the instruments on Cult Leader Tactics 11-tracks, including guitars, drum machines and synthesisers, on an album produced with long-time collaborator, acclaimed producer Paul ‘P-Dub’ Walton at the latter’s Loft Studios, with additional engineering by Scott Knapper. In addition to Steven Wilson, Cult Leader Tactics features guest appearances from Gamaliel ‘Gam’ Rendle Traynor from the band Sweat, who played, arranged and engineered all strings (recorded at Sweat Studios, Peckham, London), as well as a 288-person C.L.T. Lockdown Choir who sing on ‘Lyin’ Bout Who U Sleep With’. Cult Leader Tactics tracklist: 1. Cult Leader Tactics 2. Internationalle 3. Dirty Trix 4. Cult Leader Tactics in E-Flat Minor 5. You’ve Got No Life Skills, Baby! 6. U Killed My Fish 7. Everyone Becomes A Problem Eventually 8. Annie 9. Talkin’ Behind My Back 10. Omega Man 11. Lyin’ ‘Bout Who U Sleep With