Deluxe reissue of Joe Hicks’ debut album, including live performance, reworked at Greenham’s Studio 91

Newbury’s Joe Hicks has re-worked his debut The Best I Could Do at the Time into a deluxe album: “The result is some of the most heartfelt and vulnerable singing I’ve ever recorded and a testament to the need to refrain from overproducing music when it doesn’t need it,” he tells arts editor Trish Lee.

Newbury singer-songwriter Joe Hicks released a deluxe version of his debut album The Best I Could Do at the Time yesterday (Friday).

This record comes with acoustic reworkings and some brand-new live versions of songs from the album, recorded exclusively for the reissue.

As for live performances, Joe played a sold-out show at Arlington Arts Centre in his Newbury hometown in late 2022 and decided to bring a full-circle moment to the deluxe album by recording these at the same venue, providing an exciting glimpse at what to expect for his November 2023 UK tour (dates below). These live renditions will also be released in video form, the first being ‘One More Step’ is out now, with the rest to follow in the coming weeks.

So you are about to release a deluxe version of your debut album The Best I Could Do at the Time

How have you reworked it?

The idea around the deluxe album came initially from the desire to explore some of the songs on my debut album in a more stripped back way and from a different mindset.

‘The Best I Could Do at the Time’ is first and foremost a pop album, and so all the production decisions when making it were about amplifying those elements and leaning into them.

For these new tracks, I went into the studio (Studio 91 in Greenham) for a week in June with nothing pre planned, just a willingness to see where the songs would take the boys and I, and the hope that we could put a new spin on them.

Working with producer Sam Winfield and engineer Tom Millar always brings out fresh ideas and we decided that the goal with all the recordings was to make it feel like it could have been three or four of us set up in the live room playing an acoustic show.

The result is some of the most heartfelt and vulnerable singing I’ve ever recorded and a testament to the need to refrain from overproducing music when it doesn’t need it.

Stripping everything back a little also gave Sam’s glorious harmony vocal arrangements a chance to shine through. We found that some of the original guitar parts didn’t translate over to the acoustic perfectly, and so it was a lot of fun to reimagine and rewrite them to add a new twist.

What new songs have you added?

Sail Away, One More Step, Mirror Mirror and Out of My Mind all now have acoustic versions, and as a last minute addition there are three live recordings from a video series we filmed at Arlington Arts in the summer.

I wanted to create some videos to show how the songs from ‘The Best I Could Do at the Time’ sound and look live with the band behind me, and to give people an idea of what to expect at the shows on my upcoming UK tour. The guys I have playing with in the band constantly blow me away with their musicianship and attention to detail, and that is on full display in the videos.

Following my sold out show at Arlington last year, and Newbury being my hometown, it only felt right to go back there this August to film. The team on the day were immense, and populated by people I’ve worked with for a very long time, so it meant a lot to create something with them. We’d always planned to make sure the recording side of the day was as good as possible for the sake of the videos, but when Sam (Winfield) sent over his mixes they were beyond anything I’d hoped and so had to go on the album as well.

Why did you decide to do this reissue now?

I’d been planning to put together some alternative versions of the songs for a while, having always enjoyed that process with past releases. The big goal for the year was to get the band out on the road to celebrate the original album, and when that materialised for November the two things combined and made sense to have one support the other. I really wanted the songs to be fresh in people’s minds to get them excited for the live dates, and so giving them a new reason to listen was a big part of it. The timing of getting the live videos ready ahead of the tour, and then the mixes being turned around quickly, only furthered that sense of serendipity around the whole project.

Are you pleased with the result?

Massively. The whole ethos around the writing and recording ‘The Best I Could Do at the Time’ was literally to make it the best it could possibly be, to leave no stone turned. With the deluxe release I was determined to feel the same way about any tracks added, otherwise they wouldn’t have made the cut. I feel very grateful to have worked with some immensely talented friends to make that happen and I can’t wait for people to hear the 18 tracks together.

So are you based in Bristol now?

Yes, I moved down here at the start of the year. When I studied at Berklee College of Music in the USA I loved living in the city of Boston and felt like it was the right time to move to somewhere in the UK that I think has a very similar feeling. I’ve got one eye on writing the next album and Bristol feels like the place I can do that.

How are you finding the music scene there?

The amount of great venues and artists is amazing. There is always something going on and it’s a wonderful place to be if you want to be around music all the time.

What have you coming up?

‘The Best I Could Do at the Time (Deluxe)’ album is released into the world digitally on November 3, accompanied by the live video of ‘Sail Away’ from the Arlington sessions.

Then my UK tour kicks off on November 15 in Cardiff. Following that I fly out to Europe to tour Germany, Switzerland and Austria with the brilliant Sarah Walk and Adam Barnes.

Any gig sometime soon around Newbury?

The final show of my tour on Friday, November 24 is at the Old Fire Station, just up the road in Oxford. Getting to bring the band with me for the first time, visiting as many cities as possible across the UK for my longest and biggest run to date is extremely exciting and it means a lot to get to end the tour locally. We’ve got a lot planned to make the show truly special and I can’t wait for people to see it.

Visit joehicksmusic.com for tickets and further information.