Damian Lewis launched his second album, Sweet Chaos, at St Peter’s Church in Marlborough on Sunday night, turning the packed venue into a small-stage celebration of a record he has described as a little sharper than his first. The BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor performed an acoustic set with bassist David Catlin-Birch before signing records for fans after the show.
The performance was presented by Sound Knowledge and came the night after Lewis played the Jacaranda in Liverpool. He arrived dressed in skinny jeans, a waistcoat and a back to front flat cap, then thanked the audience for coming out to see him and for buying records. He also joked, “I presume this is your second time in church for the day!” as the launch unfolded inside the church.
The set opened with Question Mark and moved through the title track Sweet Chaos, along with Traffic Jam, which Lewis described as “About sweet thoughts on a shitty day.” That song flowed into David Bowie’s Space Oddity, with Lewis saying Bowie had a massive influence on him. Catlin-Birch, who plays with World Party and Bootleg Beatle, backed him throughout the stripped-back performance.
Lewis said Sweet Chaos was “a bit angrier in places” than Mission Creep, the first album he released in 2023, but the night mixed that edge with humour and intimacy. No Man’s Land, one of two duets on the record with Allison Mosshart of The Kills, sat alongside a cover of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon, which had been requested by Roger Mortimer of Sound Knowledge. Lewis said he wrote the record over a couple of years, changed studios when he was not getting the sound he wanted, and had it produced by Guy Chambers, the writer-producer who worked with Robbie Williams.
He closed with Pentonville Prison, saying it was inspired by a motorcycle accident in north London in 1998 that was followed by help from an off-duty male nurse from a local hospital. After the applause, Lewis signed records and called it “the signing of the 300,” leaving the night with one clear measure of how much interest his move from screen to stage still carries.
