Antony Szmierek: Sincerity Amplified

      "I'm not opposed to using a big word occasionally, but I still talk about Twixes." The album offers a skillful look at not only the inner lives of its characters, such as Angie’s Angels and her emotional Maid of Honour, but also how these lives interact and merge with those around them, including the album's romantic couple, the Patron Saint of Withington and a discount store version of Geri Horner. Even Antony, as both the storyteller and the creator, acknowledges that he has been drawn into their sphere. “Even with this track jacket,” he gestures at his outfit today, “and honestly, my hair and even the bloody moustache and all that – I would’ve changed it six or eight months ago, but this is it! This is the first record!” he excitedly shares, embracing the mix of reality and fiction for the project. “I've got this thing with music videos; I’m not wearing things I'd normally wear. I want people to envision [the characters]. I see them as Top Trumps cards. 'Yoga Teacher' is depicted in this loud green tracksuit, while 'Angie’s Wedding' features a bright red wedding suit. I’d never wear that to a wedding, but somehow, it fits – these characters work, and perhaps that’s because I’m annoyingly genuine on stage!”

      It's evident with Antony that what you see is what you get, which intriguingly adds depth to the album's concentration on its fictional characters. However, if you delve deeper, you’ll eventually discover the narrator's voice intertwining with his own. “The album is genuinely sincere,” he remarks, “and that was something I was really aiming for. ‘Sincerity Overdrive’ was one of the earliest titles for it. [See what I did there? – Ed] That was practically the mission statement, a working title, really.

      “But then I thought, how can this be a ‘sincerity overdrive’ album if I haven’t expressed anything?” he continues, emphasizing the importance of his own voice. “It’s not sincere if it’s all from characters. I realized I needed to be present,” he gestures to the two songs that reflect his own viewpoint, “to complete the picture; if I reveal these aspects of myself, then I’ve accomplished it. Nobody will analyze it this much, but it had to fit within this narrative. I found it amusing – that dry humor of breaking the fourth wall – just suddenly stating, ‘Oh, here’s one that’s my story, I’m also here with all these characters.’”

      The resulting tracks, ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’ and ‘Crashing Up,’ are both beautiful and quietly heartbreaking, but there’s more to the first than meets the ear; it delves into the existential dread that often creeps in during the early hours following a night out.

      “‘Crashing Up’ feels a bit more victorious as it concludes with me emerging from it, but ‘Restless Leg Syndrome’ is just incredibly sad,” Antony confesses. “I remember how the ideas came to me, culminating in someone saying, ‘Just come back to bed’ and accepting me as I am, but there wasn’t anyone at that time. I felt really isolated and lonely. Writing that song was my way of admitting to myself that all this chaotic stuff was happening, but I didn’t have anyone there. I wrote it after a big night out, surrounded by friends and feeling loved, yet I went home to deal with my eczema alone, with nobody assuring me that everything would be okay.

      “So, it ends with this imaginary person,” he reflects. “I wrapped up the song with someone who’s at home and it’s all good, but they weren’t real! To me, it feels even sadder because I sort of avoid it, I don’t precisely express that. I’m more like, ‘Oh this is fine,’ but it wasn’t. Writing that was a strange experience.”

      An album that traverses the spectrum of human emotions—from the trivial to the significant—if 'Service Station At The End Of The Universe' accomplishes anything, it is to remind us that life is transient and we may never grasp what others experience. However, if its mission statement was to achieve 'sincerity overdrive', it only succeeds due to the vulnerability and openness of its creator.

      “I’m a bit anxious about it,” Antony admits openly about the prospect of performing the more autobiographical tracks during his upcoming shows. “We’ll conclude [the set] with an energetic song, and then I think I’ll return alone [for the encore], and I’ll probably completely break down. Performing [those songs] at home, in front of all my friends, family, and my mom, is going to be incredibly challenging,” he honestly expresses, before a familiar spark appears in his eyes. “But then, what’s the point of doing it if