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Unsinkable Sam is the new release from Leo Brazil - titled after a famous cat it is dedicated to companion animals lost at sea during human misadventures

On ****** singer/songwriter Leo Brazil releases “Unsinkable Sam", the fourth release from his upcoming album "Alone".

Unsinkable Sam was originally called Oskar and was a ship cat onboard the battleship Bismarck during world war 2, after the ship was sunk he was picked up clinging to a piece of wreckage by HMS Cossack. He repeated the experience shortly afterwards when Cossack was sunk and then a final time on the Ark Royal who had rescued him for the second time. After a final third rescue from the sinking of Ark Royal he was retired to the navy base in Belfast and a picture of him is on the wall there.

Leo explains the origin of the song " at the time this song first started to take shape I didn't even know this tall naval tale. I had had a few bad dreams where I met a watery end and wrote the most abstract third verse in which the protagonist sinks under the waves. I had some ideas on the guitar and recorded a couple of different demo versions. It sat unused and unfinished for over a decade. It was running an animal based quiz and researching the animal facts used to entice people onto the mailing list when I first heard the story of Unsinkable Sam. I imagined him sat in the armchair after he retired and him dozing off dreaming about all the shipwrecks he had survived. I remembered my old "dreams" song and thought the title could fit the song really well. The lyrics are actually quite abstract and impressionistic, the verse about being buried under snow was inspired by reading about the exploits of the explorers trying to find the North-West passage and the animals who were taken along on the ships.

There are some amazing images online of sailors proudly posing with a variety of animals who they took aboard so in my mind this song as dedicated to all the creatures who never returned from being taken on humans' voyages.

The track and album artwork was created by Leo in a collaboration with author and illustrator Sophie Corrigan with the "Why Can't We Live Together?" illustration drawing inspiration from the rubber hose animation style of the 1920s.

The album "Alone" takes its title to a literal conclusion: entirely written, performed, mixed and documented on video by Leo and Leo Alone. Leo set out to create something authentic and personal as an act of catharsis and rebirth during the end of a marriage. To give the album a raw and live feeling each song was recorded with vocals and guitar simultaneously with Leo adding a limited number of instruments to the initial performance. The entire process has been documented with a video showing each song being recorded in Leo's studio.

Leo Brazil is working hard establishing Birds and Beasts Records to promote the music he makes with several different projects, some of which are yet to be announced. The initial releases from "Alone" picked up some great reviews and the debut single from his dinosaur themed psych rock quartet "Bone Wars" has been creating a buzz around that project too. 2025 promises to be an exciting year with several more releases from both of these albums whilst other music is being developed behind the scenes.

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Press/quotes

"...written in an extremely clever way which makes it gut-wrenchingly relatable to so many. This is a very impressive songwriting ability, and I eagerly anticipate the rest of this album."

- Songs Behind The Music

"...beautifully balances moments of introspection and sadness with a sense of hope and determination...brimming with addictive hooks that stay with you long after the song has ended."

- Click Roll Boom

"every second feels vivid and colorful"

- Bad Wolf Records

"Your charisma as both a performer and songwriter really shines through"

- New Champion Management

"Forward-thinking, fresh and familiar and soaked in lysergic trippiness, the perfect blend of occident and orient, eastern spice and western groove."

- review of band "Bone Wars" from The Big Takeover