“It’s funny, I think your inspirations only really become obvious afterwards,” Liverpool-born-and-bred singer-songwriter Michael Nelson, aka BANNERS, tells Wonderland, as we connect to discuss his latest musical offering, All Back To Mine, a 12-track album out today via Nettwerk. “When you’re making it, I think you’re possibly too close to the little tiny pieces to see how they all go together. When I listen to the album now, it just sounds like a really contented person to me,” he continues.

The project feels like an extremely close-to-home offering from BANNERS, marking his homecoming to Liverpool after a whirlwind of success in North America. It’s a record cemented in friendship, optimism, and love — both romantic and familial. Most of the tracks were penned in-studio alongside producer Cameron Blackwood and engineer Dan Moyler. “I lived away from home for a little while. Sometimes life is happening somewhere else and that’s where you need to go. Sometimes you need to go so that you can come back. And then being back is the greatest gift you could ever be given,” he says. “This album is the sound of me being back. Back with my friends and family. The most inspiring people in the most inspiring place. I think mainly this is the sound of me being happy, knowing that I’m in the place that I’m supposed to be.”

Throughout the project-making days, he wrote a total of 40 songs, a fourth of which made it onto the album. “I think you harness something different when you’re in the same room together,” he says, reflecting on his work with Blackwood and Moyler, a relationship he much admires as a child who grew up visiting the studio where his producer father, Ken Nelson, worked magic with bands such as his favourite, Coldplay.

“I think probably it’s better from a songwriting perspective to have your heart absolutely ripped to shreds. To be so devastated beyond all belief. And now put into a 3-and-a-half-minute mega ballad. But what can I say? I’m genuinely so happy that I get to make music for a living,” he continues. All Back To Mine is refreshing, personal, and a full plate of feel-good anthems, proving BANNERS’ status as an artist who has his feet firmly planted on the grounds of the UK’s rising pop scene.

Here, BANNERS takes Wonderland behind the scenes of his creative processes, on a track-by-track review of his new album. Keep scrolling to read…

“I really love this song so you should know that if you don’t love it too then I’m going to take it really badly. And I think you’re great at your job so….This song is like supporting a football team. Supporting your people and not asking for anything back from them. Just total belief. You’re gonna turn up when they’re doing their thing and you’re gonna be the last one clapping when they’re done.”

“The type of love that pulls you in every direction where you don’t know which way is up and which way is down. Where you don’t know how you’re gonna put yourself back together enough to go and be a real person doing real person things. How everything has changed and it feels amazing.”

“All the best people don’t shout themselves from the rooftops. So sometimes you have to do it for them.”

WONDERLAND: Can you take us through your upbringing? What initially led you to a career in music, and which artists or experiences have influenced your musical journey?
BANNERS: When I was growing up my Dad was an engineer in a recording studio in Liverpool called Parr Street Studios. It’s right in the city centre so it was always really easy to just go and be in there with him. Recording studios always have really comfy couches, by the way. And, for as long as I can remember, I just wanted to be in there. Not necessarily to be a singer or anything, I never imagined I’d get to do that. Just to be in there. Be a part of whatever it was that was happening. They have a particular smell, recording studios. I think it’s all that recording gear. And because all that stuff is on all the time they’re always warm and comforting like a big lovely hug. The music you get to listen to in there is louder and of a much higher fidelity than anything you hear outside those walls so when you’re a kid it’s just so exciting to be in there. In this place where people are actually making this genuine magic. But it’s magic that you can almost touch. Spread across channels on a mixing desk. I just wanted to be part of that. I didn’t care how. And then there’s the bands. The absolute coolest people on the whole planet. Right there. These heroes! The first band I can remember being near was Gomez. I was really young and they were like these wise, worldly, super talented super heroes. I think they were all about 22 at the time. Seeing that brotherhood, that tight bond of people all pulling together to make something awesome. I got to be near Chris Martin too. More than enough has been said about him but I loved him so much. He was my idol. He still is.

“Life is a journey and it’s going to have its ups and downs. No relationship is simple and nothing worth doing is ever easy. Sometimes you have to let someone know that you’re going to be there through it all. I decided to do that in a song but feel free to just actually tell someone to their face if you’re not cripplingly shy like me. I’m hiding behind big strings and dramatic drums here but you do you. A phone message might be a nice compromise.”

“You know that thing where you’re so intoxicated with someone that knowing they’re in the world makes the world better. The thought of seeing them again is all you think about all day. When they walk into a room it’s like all the lights come on at once and all you could ever need is to be near them? Well…that.”

“I wrote this song and pretty much every day since then it’s gotten stuck in my head. I once had a dream where it was the soundtrack to the dream. So there’s been no escape for me and now i’m inflicting it on you where it’ll be really stuck in your head. I’m so sorry.”

“I live in a place that has loads of beautiful bits. Some of the beauty is the stuff you put on postcards and is recognizable all over the world. Some of it is the type of beauty that you’d only see if you were born here. But there’s nothing more beautiful than being with people you love. So the best view is wherever they are.”

Wonderland: You’re off on tour very soon! What are your expectations for it, and what excites you most about the live shows?
BANNERS: I just want to enjoy actually doing it. I wouldn’t say I’m a control freak but I need to know what’s going on all the time and I need to know how everything works and that everything is being done properly and that everything is plugged in correctly. So yes I am absolutely a control freak. When you’re like that it’s hard to let your anxieties or your awareness of all the little things go and just be in the one great big moment. But getting to play live to people is such an unbelievable privilege and I want to ring every second of life out of that experience. So I’m determined to do that this time. I can’t believe people come and see us. I’m so grateful to them and I’m so excited to feel that connection with everybody.

“When you see “that” someone for the first time and your heart breaks into a million pieces and you’ll never forgive yourself if you don’t go up to them and tell them. The drum fill into the 3rd chorus in this song is so silly, I absolutely love it.”

“I suppose some songs are the culmination of years of thinking about the world and growing as a person. Declarations of the things that are fundamentally important to you and how you’d like to be remembered and judged down the years. And some are expressions of how you felt in a single moment. Right then. That’s what this song is. That moment you see that person for the first time and everything explodes and you have to tell them you love them. And maybe you won’t even feel like this tomorrow but who really cares? Because all the best things happen in the moment and if you don’t try then you’ll never know.”

“I bought the piano of my dreams. Some strong men carried it up some stairs for me. Then when they went away I wrote this song on it. It’s about how life just isn’t as good when that one person isn’t in it. I really love Regina Spektor so much and I think this song is a bit Regina Spektor-y. I’m listening to it now and I think I might even put a little Regina Spektor accent on in one bit.”

“This song is for my mum. I hope everyone else likes it too.”