"Life Is Elsewhere (also known as Never Needing) was a song I wrote with Brian Hulse for Plenty in 1988. When Plenty split, No-Man continued to play it live (alongside another Plenty track, Forest Almost Burning). When No-Man were signed in the early 1990s, Life Is Elsewhere was one of the pieces the labels were most smitten by (Days In The Trees and Colours were the others). This version comes from the Swagger demo tape (1989). It’s entirely fitting that the sensitive video has been created by Plenty bass player, David K Jones" - Tim Bowness
A companion release to Housekeeping, Swagger chronicles the in-between period that came after the initial, wildly eclectic Tim Bowness / Steven Wilson studio experiments of 1987 and 1988, and prior to No-Man signing its first record deal in 1991.
It mostly captures the band making a propulsive Electro-Rock music and forging a fresh and more flamboyant identity courtesy of new recruit, virtuoso violinist Ben Coleman.
Featuring Steven Wilson's guitar playing to the fore and Tim Bowness’s ‘before voice’, Swagger contains 45 minutes of music - 6 unreleased songs and 3 early versions of pieces that ended up on later releases - and showcases a hungry band making its alternate universe debut album.
