Neil Leyton Plants “These Seeds,” a Raw and Emotive Reflection on a World at War

Photo Credit: Katja Ruge

Neil Leyton is a Canadian musician, born in Lisbon, who is rightly beloved by Northwest rock fans for his undying fandom of the underrated-but-mighty Spokane rock star, Michael Maker. This fine man has just released a new single called “These Seeds.” on European Phonographic Records. The song follows Leyton’s tradition of crafting pop anthems with garage-rock-grit. Following the release of the “Michael Maker” and “Singerman” singles recorded at Canoa Studios in Portugal, Leyton now brings us a reflection on the current geopolitical landscape.

Leyton explains: “Now is the time to release this song – with all proceeds going to Music Export Ukraine. Regardless of other tragedies unfolding, the world must not forget that Ukraine is fighting for its’ country, for Europe and for democracy – which is being threatened once again everywhere, in Ukraine, in Europe with the rise of the extreme-right wing fascist, xenophobic and neo-nazi groups which I never thought could be the case in the 21st century.”

Recorded at Canoa Studios in Portugal, the song features Leyton on acoustic guitar and vocals, João Sousa from Lusitanian Ghosts on drums, and Nelson Canoa on piano, keyboards and bass as well as being the recording engineer and co-producer of the song.

Leyton continues, “I wrote and recorded ‘Seeds’ back in 2022, shocked and appalled that this sort of thing could happen again in the 21st century. The lyrics were inspired by the words of a courageous Ukrainian lady in Kherson, who walked up to a Russian soldier and asked vehemently, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” before denouncing the invasion or her land and admonishing the Russian soldier with the line “Take these seeds and put them in your pockets, so at least sunflowers will grow when you all lie down here.” Although written and recorded in 2022, Leyton chose not to release the single at that moment, “There was too much noise already at the time – my humble musical statement wasn’t needed, so I sat on it. Some of the same lyrics ended up being recorded on another song called ‘Seeds’ which ended up on the Lusitanian Ghosts III album that we released back in September ’23; however the musical composition of that song is Micke Ghost’s and it has a different melody and verses; ‘These Seeds’ is my original composition and lyrics from back in 2022 – and the time is now to release it, to remind the world that the war is still raging on and that Ukraine needs our support, now more than ever.”

All proceeds from “These Seeds” will be paid from the European Phonographic label to Music Export Ukraine in support of Ukrainian artists and musicians.