Tim Burgess of The Charlatans has shared the video for the track Laurie, which is lifted from his upcoming album ‘I Love The New Sky’ out May 22nd via Bella Union. About the track Burgess says: “Laurie is a love letter to the future from the past. An uplifting view of the world, written about a time when it’s hard to find positivity, but when you need optimism more than anything else.” You can check out the colourful part-animated video, directed by Callum Scott-Dyson and with filmed content by Nik Colk Void, via YouTube below.
Additionally, Burgess has announced news of his rescheduled Spring UK tour dates with all the shows moving to October 2020… Dates/info below:
Saturday 10th October – Wrexham – Focus Wales
Sunday 11th October – Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach
Tuesday 13th October – Bristol – Thekla
Wednesday 14th October – Manchester – YES *(SOLD-OUT!)*
Thursday 15th October – Kendal – Brewery
Saturday 17th October – Glasgow – King Tuts *(SOLD-OUT!)*
Monday 19th October – Newcastle – Hit The North
Tuesday 20th October – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
Wednesday 21st October – Portsmouth – Wedgewood Rooms
Thursday 22nd October – London – Oslo *(SOLD-OUT!)*
How inspiring it is to hear Tim Burgess conjuring up exciting and life-affirming sounds as he, almost inconceivably, enters his fifth decade on public duty. Frontman, singer, label boss, DJ and author, he’s been instrumental in so many great records over the years, always bringing enthusiasm, positivity and diversity of influence, which altogether light the way for those who hold him dear. While in The Charlatans, Tim’s indefatigable energy has been a consistent fuel for the band across thirteen high-charting albums, his solo adventure has been no less extraordinary, scaling new heights in 2020 with his fifth solo release to date: ‘I Love The New Sky’. Released via Bella Union, it features wonderfully connective songs of everyday minutiae and universal experience, of love and anger, of loss and belonging, all united by elaborate yet natural arrangements and an effortless way with melody. The twelve tunes of ‘I Love The New Sky’ were authored, he says, “in Norfolk, in the middle of the countryside, with the nearest shop eight miles away. There are no distractions, and I guess that way things happen. I wrote everything on acoustic guitar, and the chords were really considered. The guitar lines would lead the melody, and the melody would inform the lyrics – just dreaming away with music.” So far, so Laurel Canyon, though ‘I Love The New Sky’ would end up sounding anything but hippie/folkie, thanks to a connection Tim made while living in a warehouse space in gritty Seven Sisters in North London, before heading to Norfolk.
“The Quietus had their office there,” he recalls. “I used to know pretty much all the stuff they were writing about, but then their album of the year for 2013 was ‘Glynnaestra’ by Grumbling Fur, and I really fell in love with it. I started talking to the band about working together. To cut a long story short I recorded a song with Grumbling Fur, they remixed two Charlatans tracks and a couple of Daniel O’Sullivan’s solo albums came out on my label.”
As well as arranging and production duties on ‘I Love The New Sky,‘ O’Sullivan plays bass, drums and piano, from the bouncing chamber-pop chords of Sweetheart Mercury and the punchy chorus of Empathy For The Devil, through to Comme D’Habitude’s juxtaposition of blissfully rolling West Coast singer-songwriting and a complex Sparks-y Broadway-esque bridge, to the Velvets-y ramalama moves on Warhol Me and Undertow’s sombre balladry.
The album was arranged and recorded quickly but not rushed: “Ideas happen fast, don’t they?” Tim reasons. The first sessions at Eve Studios in Stockport were with long-serving Charlatans engineer Jim Spencer. Tim, Daniel and Nik Void cut three tracks in two days, with Nik layering up modular synths in line with her previous day job in Factory Floor. The results are nothing short of astounding. ‘I Love The New Sky’ has landed somewhere between Paul McCartney’s ‘RAM’ and Brian Eno’s ‘Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)’ and certainly that recipe covers both the all-pervasive tunefulness and high quality. Stylistically, though, it runs the widest gamut, from Empathy For The Devil‘s gospel style rockabilly skip, through to the sophisticated song-craft of Sweetheart Mercury and the Nilsson-esque Sweet Old Sorry Me, with the angst-y gravitas of Undertow, which Tim describes as “a mood-changer, influenced by 10cc.” The final stages of the album’s year-long narrative arc were enacted at Jet Studio in Brussels, with the Echo Collective string section. Burgess looked on “mesmerised at what was happening to the songs, taking an even more magical turn.” With that icing on the cake, Tim is in no doubt that he has his finest solo record under his belt.
He’ll be touring the album with a live ensemble featuring Daniel O’Sullivan, Thighpaulsandra, another O Genesis artiste called Keel Her, and renowned avant-jazz violinist Peter Broderick, who plays on ‘’Empathy…’ and will recreate the Echo Collective parts, too. So, the community will grow. Just like Tim says, “the future is friendly.” ‘
‘I Love The New Sky’ track list
1. Empathy For The Devil
2. Sweetheart Mercury
3. Comme D’Habitude
4. Sweet Old Sorry Me
5. Warhol Me
6. Lucky Creatures
7. The Mall
8. Timothy
9. Only Took A Year
10. I Got This
11. Undertow
12. Laurie
Tim Burgess has launched a series of listening parties on Twitter which has included artists like Franz Ferdinand, Blur, New Order, Belle & Sebastian, The Flaming Lips, The Chemical Brothers, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and more. Follow #timstwitterlisteningparty on Twitter.
