Dundee will be hoping Liam Fontaine can help James McPake get a tune out of his backline after the Dens boss snapped up the former Ross County defender.
A budding musician, Fontaine released a single called Life Lessons during his time in Dingwall and used music to raise money for NHS workers at the start of lockdown.
But it’s on the pitch where the centre-back, who has two Championship titles and a Scottish Cup winner’s medal to his name, will be aiming to strike a chord with Dees.
Conceding seven goals in their last two away games with central defensive options limited thanks to Jordon Forster’s broken foot and Lee Ashcroft’s bout of Covid-19, manager McPake has moved to add the vastly-experienced centre-half to his squad.
The former Hibs and Bristol City man will go straight into the matchday squad for the trip to Ayr United this weekend, though he hasn’t played since March.
McPake, however, expects his new man to be on song before long after signing the 34-year-old until the end of the season.
The Dens boss said: “He’s won the Championship twice and is very experienced.
“He’s played a lot of games in England and the good thing is he has looked really fit.
“He had an Achilles tendon injury but still managed to get back and play 20-odd games for Ross County last season.
“He’s a leader with plenty of experience.”
Also on Fontaine’s CV is a Scottish Cup win at Hibs, where he played the first 70 minutes in the 3-2 victory over Rangers, and a Challenge Cup success while playing in Dingwall.
He departed Ross County on October 7 and has been searching for a club since.
With Dundee’s defensive problems and lack of numbers at centre-back, manager McPake sees the two parties as a perfect fit.
Fontaine needs games and Dundee need a centre-back.
McPake said: “It’s that unpredictable at the minute, if we lost another centre-back to injury or Covid then we’d be left short again.
“He’ll not just be coming in as cover, though, he’ll be fancying himself to come in and make an impact.”
Vastly experienced, Fontaine also played seven seasons in the English Championship for Bristol City and briefly for Yeovil Town.
After a single Premier League appearance for Fulham back in January 2005 and one England U/20 cap, the defender played 294 times for Bristol City and helped them to promotion from League One.
“When you’re injured long-term it’s mentally hard to motivate yourself and you find yourself in dark places…I decided to do something to take my mind off it.
They were relegated once more in 2013 and Fontaine was released the following year.
With a certain James McPake leaving Hibs after their relegation that same summer, Fontaine was signed as a replacement at Easter Road as they faced up to time in the Championship along with Hearts and Rangers.
As well as winning the Scottish Cup, Fontaine also scored in the Hibees’ League Cup Final defeat to Ross County in 2016 before signing for the Highland outfit under Owen Coyle nearly two years later.
Having endured a couple of lengthy spells on the sidelines – an ankle injury in Bristol and Achilles problem at County – Fontaine uses music to get through difficult moments.
And that culminated in the release of Life Lessons in September 2018.
Speaking to the Press and Journal, Fontaine said: “It all started about five years ago. I had quite a serious injury when I was at Bristol City.
“When you’re injured long-term it is mentally hard to motivate yourself and you find yourself in little dark places.
“I decided to do something to take my mind off it. I bought a guitar and taught myself how to play.
“I’ve had no lessons, but music has always interested me and even as a kid there wasn’t a day when there wasn’t music on. I’ve always loved going to gigs and it is just something I thought I’d try.
“I got better and better and thought I’d try to write a song. I wrote life lessons on a plane when I was on my way home from holiday in Cyprus last year.
“I had my phone out on the notes section and put some stuff down, coming up with a flow and melody in my head. I ended up putting it down on my guitar when I got home and then played it to one of my friends.
“He laughed when I said I had a song, but listened to it and loved it. He happens to be a DJ and producer on the side from his full-time job and he produced it.”
He also used former Dundee United defender Keith Watson as a sounding board, adding: “I was just in the house and Keith Watson was with me at the time and was wondering how I came up with it.
“I just go through phases when I can do it. You hear a lot of music artists say sometimes they’re in good zones or in that purple patch of creativity. It just comes to you.
“It has a meaning any given person can relate to in life. I wrote mine based on my injury, learning from it rather than beating yourself up and thinking you’re on your own.”