Ali MacQueen releases debut single ‘Loretto’

From starting out on the Luton music scene as a 15-year-old and recovering from brain surgery, it’s been quite a ride for Ali MacQueen, but he’s finally released his debut solo single ‘Lorretto’ – a sweeping and majestic alt-rock track, inspired by some London graffiti.

The singer/songwriter said: “At the end of this alleyway north of Oxford Street was some graffiti, which was tagged ‘Loretto’, and that was it. By the time I walked out from the backstreet and out back on to the street, I was humming the chorus.”

Out on Blaggers Records – the home of JW Paris and run by Lutonian Alex Forde – ‘Lorretto’ has been picking up attention from digital press and radio stations, most notably from BBC Radio Gailheal Rapal and KOR Radio.

As part of the band Easy, MacQueen had his first gig aged 15, at the now no more 33 Arts Centre on Guildford Street. He was then part of an early incarnation of legendary Luton ska rockers Bowfinger, in the late 90s, before moving to Nottingham and forming The Autoplan. After a couple of months, they recorded and released ‘The Farringdon Wing’ EP. With airplays on the Steve Lamacq show, the band moved to London.

A couple of months after moving though, Ali began to experience weird, out of body sensations and feelings of deja vu. “I thought I was just partying too much and staying up late, which ended with an eight hour bout of brain surgery to remove it”.

With five months of recovery to deal with, The Autoplan disbanded and Ali began working in a bookshop and writing about music for Record Collector magazine and during this time he headed into a studio to record two songs for Hope Recordings, ‘RedLights/Miss Whisky’. Upon its release, NME described it as “Like Beck and Nick Drake sharing a rollie on a park bench”.

Ali continued to play at London venues such as The Rhythm Factory, The Troubadour and The Lexington, with a residency at The Half Moon in Putney, where he was discovered by Universal’s A&R department. They came to see him once more at Camden’s Barfly where, in a cruel twist of fate, they took an interest in Jack Garrett instead, who was on after him.

For Ali, it was a wake-up call but, while sorting his head out, he picked up his guitar again and found that the songs began to flow again. He then sent these home demos to a couple of independent labels, with Blaggers Records taking a shine. Eight months and one studio session later, ‘Loretto’ Ali’s debut single is out for all to hear. 

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