Leading lights, Liam Frost.
(Recorded on October 5th on the Blosseville Coast, Greenland. Duration: 4:41mins)

Shipwrecks, Liam Frost.
(Recorded on October 3rd on the bowsprit of the Noorderlicht in Turner Sound, Greenland. Duration: 3:50mins)

Address climate change now or face horrors like this every day of your life.

(Photos:Carol Cotterill)

Today I had to leave my watch because I needed to vomit, but was asked to help lower a sail before I left…it’s still pretty choppy out at sea, and Beth (who I share my watch with, along with Dallas and Nick) and I had a lot of trouble completing this task. Beth fell down and got soaked by a wave, and I took a bit of a smack to the side of the head. I came back in, made a sick, and had a little nap. Nice.

My days seem to have consisted mostly of trying to wake up in time for my watch; remembering to eat; trying not to throw up; and drinking plenty of water so I don’t get dehydrated. So far I’m failing on most fronts, which is a shame because the food is really great on here. I am remembering to drink water though, so that’s something at least. I’m keeping a smiling face about it all, and seem to be cracking a lot of bad jokes, so it can’t be that bad! Been doing an awful lot of slipping around the cabin. I think I damn near broke my coccyx yesterday slipping across the floor into a table.

I’d really love to speak to my girlfriend. I thought that when I was told that there would be broadband on the ship, that I’d be able to maintain some kind of e-mail contact. It would understandably be a bit of a logistical nightmare to do so. It was incredibly moving to receive messages from back home today though.

Damian, Sarah, thank you for looking after Carys for me! Glad to hear all is good there, thanks for sending me a message. Keep it coming!

Carys I’m doing well, a little sick, but resting lots and looking forward to seeing some wildlife! By the way, my tiger toy doesn’t smell the same as it did when it left.I miss you terribly. Sorry I can’t keep in touch at the minute, hope you’re keeping that flat tidy lady! Send me some more messages!

I’m sure that when this passage is over, Greenland will be absolutely breathtaking.that’s what I’m holding out for at the minute. I’m looking forward to hitting land, and rediscovering the ability to walk like a normal person. The things that lay ahead will surely be something to behold.

I’ve also had lots of ideas for new songs, but the current conditions and my inability to find my backside with both hands mean that I’m finding it a little hard to put pen to paper.

And that’s it really, apart from a brief run-in with a few dolphins at the start of the week, which was really beautiful. But theirs was only a fleeting visit. Not to worry, I’m sure we’ll see more.

Until next time, I bid you all adieu.

From the top of the world,

Liam xo

Liam Frost
Musician (UK)

“It feels so weird when I play solo now,” says reluctant superstar Liam Frost, of Liam Frost and the Slowdown Family. In fact, the actual name of the band is a little more complicated “I do honestly feel like it is just The Slowdown Family now. I always did want to be in a band.”

“It just so happened, it started off as The Slowdown, and then we got some more band members, so it became The Slowdown Family. And then I lost some band members, and it felt stupid calling myself The Slowdown Family when it was just me on my own, so I used my own name. But then I got a band back and I was just on the verge of getting signed and we settled on Liam Frost and the Slowdown Family.”

Liam signed to Lavolta Records at the end of 2005, soon after a tour with kindred spirit Stephen Fretwell, and quickly put out the gorgeous ‘She Painted Pictures’ EP, which was quickly snapped up by those in the know. A four week residency in Manchester and London in January and Febraury 2006 proved to be a sold out success story and was quickly followed by a debut UK tour in May. Summer 2006 saw Liam and the band spreading the word with numerous festival dates and special one-off shows with Elbow at Somerset House and Snow Patrol at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Singles The Mourners of St Paul’s and The City Is At Standstill have also been released over summer 2006 and both can be found on the debut album Show Me How The Spectres Dance from September 11th. The album was produced by Danton Supple (Coldplay, Doves, Morrissey) and casts the net wider than the typical singer-songwriter album; it shows off exactly the kind of level Liam and The Slowdown Family are working on.

Combining northern grit with a psychedelic imagination; personal tragedy with black humour; a strong, centrifugal solo artist with the strength and unity of a big band; Liam Frost and The Slowdown Family will confound expectations at every turn. “At the gigs”, says Liam, “there is an element of the singer-songwriter fans, we do get that. But we also get the emo kids as well. I actually think we’re as much of an emo band as anything else.”

The only thing you can say for certain is that you’ll be floored in an instant.

www.liamfrost.co.uk