"WHEN ARE YOU GONNA SEE...

...I carved your name in the cherry tree?"

Of all the songs that have inspired the writing of Neverland in Shadow, Teenage, by Veronica Falls, remains one of the most direct influences.

Jangly and melodic, the song is also shot through with a bit of mystery, a sigh and a slightly unsettling reading of desire and attraction.

Not that anyone beyond me cares, but Teenage may well be the ultimate Neverland in Shadow song. The lyrical references to a cherry tree – a name carved in its bark – and a protagonist who’s located, somewhat creepily, close to the window when you look outside, are both, one way or another, found in the story.

But beyond these burglaries, it’s the atmosphere of the nocturnal Teenage, and the character implied by all that tree-carving and window-watching that went on to drive essential parts of the story. Those alarming overtures would become a feature of the Peter character especially, and Teenage is really where the components of his own strange valentines began.

WAITING FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN

The song itself surfaced as the lead-in single to the London band’s second, and final LP, 2013’s Waiting for Something to Happen. That record was released in 2013 on the Bella Union label. It’s well worth tracking down in your format of choice – perhaps the white-vinyl edition on Slumberland Records – as is the band’s self-titled 2011 debut.

Also worthy of three minutes and five seconds of your time is a fine video for the single.

Veronica Falls were...

Roxanne Clifford, lead vocals, guitar

Patrick Doyle, drums, vocals

Marion Herbain, bass

James Hoare, guitar, vocals A lovely tribute to the late Patrick Doyle, written by Malcolm Jack, and appearing in The Big Issue, is found here