Singer-songwriter Bill Mallonee grew up listening to UK post-punk music and began his music career in the late 80s playing in a number of US college rock bands. With the formation of his own band, the Vigilantes Of Love, he began to express his admiration for the music of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, coupled with an abiding affection for devil-may-care rock ‘n’ roll. Mallonee finally disbanded the Vigilantes Of Love at the start of the new millennium following a decade’s worth of critical acclaim but little commercial reward. He made his solo debut in 2002 with the EP Go And Ask Her combining new tracks and a number of live recordings. On the same year’s Fetal Position Mallonee added an experimental edge to the marriage of indie guitar pop and folk rock he had pursued with his former band.

Maintaining the prolific output of the Vigilantes Of Love, Mallonee then completed a further album, Locket Full Of Moonlight, which was initially only available in Europe. 2003’s Perfumed Letter was a more fully realised recording with Mallonee’s basic folk rock tracks embellished in the studio with additional layers of instrumentation. The album featured five tracks previously heard on Fetal Position. The following year’s Dear Life was bleaker still, with Mallonee casting a jaundiced eye back on lives compromised by the futility of chasing down dreams. The album’s closing track, ‘Songwriter (Numb)’, was a disarmingly honest confessional coming straight from the heart.