Tag: new album

Old Keane, New James

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Wow. It’s like the 1990s and the early 2000s never went away, because:

I dunno. But lying on a tropical beach overlooking the Indian Ocean took me back – way back – to our honeymoon several (or more) years ago. And I’d just got my first ever iPod, brought over from the UK by one of the wedding party. Sadly though, there wasn’t the time, the knowledge or the bandwidth to get much on there before we headed off to Mozambique, and so I ended up listening to Keane’s Hopes And Fears on repeat.

That sort of thing could drive a man mad, but a) I was so chuffed to have an iPod, b) I was so chuffed to just have married the girl of my dreams, and c) it’s actually a rather good album.

In fact, they toured it on its twentieth anniversary last year.

And so, I downloaded it while I was away in Mauritius last week (the resort wifi was incredible) and did it all over again. It’s still very good.

In fact, I need to re-revisit it because it may actually be one of those very rare albums with no bad tracks at all (I can only think of three off the top of my head).

Watch this space.

And…

James have a new album out tomorrow. It’s a greatest hits with a couple of new additions and a live version one. I heard one of the new additions – Hallelujah Anyhow – this morning on 6Music and it was really decent stuff.

Always enjoyed a bit of James. I even went to see them back in 2018. Yeah, that’s less of a concert review and more of a social commentary the likes of which you might well have noted on other 6000 miles… posts about concerts. Sorry about that.

But I digress. Often.

Looking forward to the new album. Might review it.

Watch this space.

Struggle

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No. Not us with our [checks notes] 11½ hours without power today.

Although…

No. The Lathums’ new one: Struggle.

A heartfelt, personal tale of loss, with a video following the young Alex Moore growing up in his bedroom. It’s great stuff.

Arguably, the acoustic version is even better.

The new album From Nothing To A Little Bit More is out on March 3rd. I’m excited.

2 albums out today

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And probably the most eagerly anticipated two of the year from my point of view.

But I’m still away on Robben Island, so here’s what other people have had to say about them:

The Car – Arctic Monkeys

The Car is Arctic Monkeys’ weirdest album, and it’s their most overtly melancholy work too — like James Bond themes for a terminally depressed spy. It’s certainly the saddest-sounding music Turner’s put his name to since the dusky tunes he contributed to the soundtrack for Richard Ayoade’s Submarine in 2010.

and (of course) True North – a-ha

“There’s no audience, it’s us, the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra and a live band,” he expands. “But what we wanted to realise was an audio-visual experience where the music was at the centre. It seemed a nice change from what we’d done before.”

Alongside the 12-track album, therefore, came a raw and powerful film directed by long-time a-ha collaborator Stian Andersen, shot in Bodo, 90km above the Arctic Circle in the north of Norway – already screened and positively received in selected cinemas around the world last month.

I have a Stian Andersen print on my wall just behind me (I’m writing this on Tuesday), bought from the man himself, and featuring yours truly at a recent a-ha concert.

Lifestyles of the rich and the famous, hey?

I’m In

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Almost 12 years after their last ever concert (the one which I didn’t get to), and then 6 years after their last ever concert (the one we did get to), and then 2 years after we saw them in Cape Town, here’s… er… the new single from a-ha:

Predictably lovely stuff.

New album – True North – later in the year.

Whenever this sort of thing happens, people always ask if I feel cheated because they said that they were going to retire and now they haven’t.

No. No, I don’t. I’ve loving it.

Party in the Dark

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A new Mogwai album Every Country’s Sun comes out on Friday. Here’s one of the tracks from it: Party in the Dark.

Bit of a new direction from them – very vocal, rather shoegaze. And a video which thinly veils the reproductive process through wax sculptures and 60’s-style sci-fi.

I love it, but hardcore fans are apparently less convinced. Fortunately for them, there’s promise of more traditional Mogwai sound on the other pre-release, Coolverine, which also has a compelling, classy, monochrome slo-mo video to go with it.