What does Britain look like through the eyes of an American musician who has made the UK an increasingly important part of his life? For Longboat, the answer comes through music.
The Seattle-born, UK-based project is preparing to release Proud of My Postcode, an all-electronic album inspired by Britain, London and the everyday details of life in the country. The album is due for release at the end of September 2026, with recording taking place at Strongroom Studios in Shoreditch and engineering by Will Davies.
Rather than attempting to create a definitive portrait of Britain, Longboat approaches the country from a personal perspective — observing its history, culture, people and seemingly ordinary moments and transforming those observations into music.
Seeing Britain Through American Eyes
Longboat’s fascination with Britain comes partly from the contrast between the UK and Seattle, the musician’s original home.
Seattle is surrounded by mountains, forests and wildlife, while Britain offers something entirely different: centuries of history woven into its cities, towns and landscapes. For Longboat, that sense of history provides an almost endless collection of subjects to explore creatively.
But Proud of My Postcode isn’t designed as a musical travel guide.
Instead, it reflects one person’s relationship with the country and the small details that have made an impression along the way.
“Proud of My Postcode doesn’t draw a complete picture of the UK, but I hope it helps to convey my affection for this country.”
That affection isn’t limited to Britain’s most recognisable landmarks. In fact, Longboat is particularly interested in the mundane — the everyday habits, moments and observations that can say as much about a place as its major historical events.
Finding Music in the Everyday
One of the most interesting elements of Longboat’s approach is the decision to treat songwriting as a form of observation.
Rather than relying on conventional romantic songwriting, the project looks outward. People, places, history, culture and the contradictions of modern life all become potential material.
The approach gives Longboat considerable freedom to explore subjects that might otherwise sit outside traditional songwriting.
“It’s pretty liberating,” the musician explains.
That sense of freedom is central to Proud of My Postcode, allowing the album to explore Britain without attempting to force its observations into a conventional format.
From Seattle to London
Longboat was originally formed in Seattle in 2011 and has developed into a prolific, genre-fluid project led by its founding musician, an original jazz tenor saxophonist and songwriter.
Although Longboat frequently operates as a solo studio project, the music can expand into something much larger. Live rock and jazz musicians, strings, horns and backing singers can all become part of the lineup depending on what an individual piece requires.
The scale of the catalogue is equally impressive. Proud of My Postcode is described as the project’s 37th album, while the band’s wider biography states that Longboat has written more than 500 songs and recorded 39 albums.
The project has therefore developed an extensive musical archive built around experimentation, songwriting and an ongoing fascination with the world around it.
A Growing Connection With Clerkenwell
Longboat’s relationship with Britain isn’t limited to making an album about the country.
The project’s founder currently divides time between Britain and Seattle while working towards the possibility of making the UK a permanent home.
In London, the musician has also begun performing piano-only versions of around 100 songs from Longboat’s catalogue around Clerkenwell, with ambitions to take these intimate performances further afield.
That live work offers a different side of the project from the electronic textures of Proud of My Postcode, putting the songwriting itself front and centre.
Keeping Music Human
Longboat also places a strong emphasis on human creativity.
The band is committed to writing, recording and performing without the use of artificial intelligence, keeping human musical decision-making and artistic agency at the heart of the process.
For a project so focused on observing everyday life, that philosophy feels particularly fitting. Proud of My Postcode is ultimately about looking closely at the world — and then translating those observations into something creative.
With its electronic foundation and distinctly personal perspective, the album offers an unconventional musical portrait of Britain: not the postcard version, but the Britain found in streets, conversations, routines, history and everyday life.
As Longboat’s connection with the UK continues to deepen, Proud of My Postcode could become another chapter in a much larger journey — one that began in Seattle and is increasingly finding its musical home in Britain.
