Oranges and Apples, a lovely, summery, bluesy song about (and inspired by) Syd Barrett performed by the Trashcan Sinatras, is being released (and available to download at iTunes) on Monday, October 13th in conjunction with the tribute events taking place at The City Wakes Festival in Cambridge in late October. You can hear the first couple of minutes at The City Wakes website at the moment.

Featuring a sleeve illustration by Storm Studios, proceeds from the near seven minute track will go to the Syd Barrett trust, an affiliated charity associated with Escape Artists (Rosemary Breen, Syd's sister, being one of their directors).

John Douglas, from The Trashcan Sinatras on Syd Barrett and the inspiration for the song:

"In the months after Syd's passing, I became entranced and intrigued again by him and his wonderful unique work. A friend of mine, the great English songwriter Boo Hewerdine, lives in Cambridge and had told me of seeing Syd on occasion riding around town on his bike (in fact, on one occasion, Syd fell off his bike and Boo helped him get back up and on his way). He seemed to enjoy a degree of anonymity, and the local tradesmen spoke highly of him and he seemed to be happy. This picture of Syd is at odds with the historically documented version. I was relieved and pleased to discover that Syd had found a degree of peace and 'normality' in his years there.

"I was very touched by his personal effects from his house. A fund raising sale of some of his household items by auction was held, and the auction house had photographs and descriptions of each item available to view online. Syd had personally adapted pretty much everything in his house, from the stereo to the chest of drawers to his bikes and wheelbarrow... all had been re-painted, re-designed or, somehow, made more personal by Syd. His highly individual attitude to song-writing was, it seemed, a reflection of his attitude to life in general.

"Through dwelling on these things in admiration, the song 'Oranges and Apples' appeared."

The song "Oranges and Apples" is from the forthcoming album "In The Music" by The Trashcan Sinatras, scheduled for release in Spring 2009. The band, formed in Irvine, Scotland, has released four internationally acclaimed albums over the past 18 years. For more info on the band, visit www.trashcansinatras.com.