Although written well over a year ago, Tugboat Captain’s new single ‘No Plans (For This Year)’ could well have the most fitting title of any song released in 2020. The first song to be taken from the four-piece’s debut album ‘Rut’ (out later this year on Double A-Side Records), it has baroque moments that blend effortlessly with Ed Harcourt or Brendan Benson-style singer-songwriter sensibilities.
Recorded at Abbey Road with the aim of replicating The Beatles (although the band admit they are ‘probably falling a little short and landing worryingly close to ELO’), the song has a grandiose, piano-led feel as the band talk about having nothing to do (‘I know it’s just situations that get me blue for sure’) and celebrate achieving … something: ‘Getting close to something easy, raise a toast to that’. There’s a heartfelt and romantic theme running through the whole song as they say ‘I can make you mine’ over a bass-led breakdown.