I think it was Nick Cave who said (I paraphrase) that when inspiration arrives, you’d have to be ready for it. You would have to recognise it and be sufficiently prepared to receive it. Whether it happens in a hot streak, or once in a long while, it is important to be present. But you’d have to want it, and be open and tuned in for when it comes.

El Niño was one of those rare songs that wrote itself. Piecing it together took no time. But the seeds of the song were sown several days before it was written, at the end of a balmy evening run, quite unremarkably, when a random tune cued up on Spotify. It was Perdida by Martin Solis.

That song stopped me in my tracks and hours listening to it on repeat ensued. It was one of those songs I wished I had written. So, doing the next best thing, I decided to write a version of it. Which became El Niño. Which sounded nothing like the song inspired it. I am certain it will never reach Perdida’s heights. But man, what a joy it is to have been torched by an idea.