Winwood tells a lot of stories about those who have suffered, those lost along the way, and asks why it keeps happening. Bodies is an unflinching examination that contextualises that glacial place rather than excusing it, while being unsparing in its criticism. A peek behind the curtains at the mental health struggles so many people in the music industry suffer from. A jealousy-inducing ease to the prose throughout, Winwood has crafted the definitive experience of the music circuit. The size of the venues they played began to shrink, America turned its attentions elsewhere, relations between the singer and the rest of the band soured into violent altercations backstage.

The book also deviates to talk about the difficulties for women working in the industry, the sexism and the abuse. I really wanted to love this book, the subject matter is something I work in and have experienced personally. The Frank Turner/social media section was weirdly framed, though, and neglected to discuss the good faith criticism people of marginalised identities (not “cool kids” or “trolls”) have tried to engage with him on, including offline.That much is explored with such creative and intimate detail from Winwood, who delves deep into his own career and the rich tapestry that forms it.

Absolutely essential for anyone wondering what it is like on this side of the fence, Bodies is as experienced as it is alarming. Perhaps this was intentional; the author spends time boasting about the amount of coke he was shoveling up his beak, but this means that stories about individuals are only hinted at or loosely defined. Sure, it touches on the topic of suicides and overdoses but then it will drift to Twitter and streaming and money, all the while Ian tramps all of the places he's been and all the wonderful things he's experienced by you. No other industry chews up its participants and spits them out in the way that the music industry does.It needed someone to take a second read through the book as parts (especially in the first half) were chaotic and a little difficult to follow.

He drops a lot of band names and places he's visited as if to reinforce the privileged position he found himself in but for me this just makes his cliched decline into substance abuse even more idiotic. And it’s a story still unfolding: in the gap between writing and publishing Bodies, two of the book’s subjects - Mark Lanegan and Taylor Hawkins - lie dead.Whether it's because of drug abuse in the rock community, or mental health woes allowed to go unchecked by an uncaring industry, self-destruction isn't cool in 2022. An industry, that Winwood, openly exposes as greedy and uncaring so long as someone is making money (and usually it's not the musicians themselves). Winwood makes a compelling argument and overturns some long-held notions about “rock and roll excess” by deftly tying together a vast amount of information . With classics such as Ted Hughes's The Iron Man and award-winners including Emma Carroll's Letters from the Lighthouse, Faber Children's Books brings you the best in picture books, young reads and classics. Much more than a touchline reporter, Winwood also tells the story of his own mental health collapse, following the shocking death of his father, in which extinction-level behaviour was given perfect cover by a reckless industry.