Dan Whitehouse releases a new single on 11th November 2025 on Want To Know Records. The Bells Of Brierley Hill reflects on the human costs of war…

THE HUMAN COST OF WAR. THE ENDURING LONGING FOR PEACE

Marking Remembrance Day 2025, songwriter Dan Whitehouse releases The Bells of Brierley Hill, a moving reflection on the human cost of war and the enduring longing for peace. Co-written with singer songwriter Chris Cleverley, the song is told through the voice of a young soldier lying in the trenches on Christmas Eve. The song tells of him imagining the sound of church bells ringing across his hometown – a sound that carries warmth, memory and hope into the frozen stillness of war.

“If I listen closely I swear I can hear the church bells / Of St Michael’s ring across the town…A day of peace, a chance to lay our weapons down.”

HONOURING HUMANITY

This is not a song that celebrates battle, but one that honours the humanity within: the yearning for home, the quiet prayers for peace, and the fragile lifeline of memory.

Listen here:

“It’s a song about connection and a sense of duty,” says Dan. “About how even in the darkest places, a sound or a
memory can bring you home. Though it’s set in the First World War, it could be any conflict, anywhere in the world. The ache is the same.”

Rooted in the soundscape of Brierley Hill, the song originated during a community songwriting project – A Winter’s Tale of Brierley Hill led by Dan facilitating local people to write songs for the Christmas period. One participant was St Michael’s Church bell ringer Tim Sunter who shared an article about a young fusilier missing home at Christmas. Dan was inspired by this tale of the soldier, Private John James, who was missing home and imagining his friends and family listening to the bells of Brierley Hill ringing.

Dan Whitehouse online: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bandcamp

Keep up with At The Barrier: Facebook / X (formerly Twitter) / Instagram / Spotify / YouTube