The Charlatans' Tim Burgess readies solo album, tour

Tim Burgess of The Charlatans has announced news of his new solo album I Love The New Sky that will be released on May 22 via Bella Union. Burgess has also shared the video to coincide with lead track “Empathy For The Devil”. Watch and listen HERE. Furthermore, Burgess will appear stateside in March with performances in New York at New Colossus festival as well as SXSW.

I Love The New Sky differs from its predecessors in that all twelve tracks were self-penned. “In the past, I've written collaboratively,” says a characteristically, but rightfully, excited Burgess. “(2012's) ‘Oh No I Love You’ was written with Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner in Nashville, and then ‘Same Language, Different Worlds’ was a collaboration with Peter Gordon who had worked extensively with Arthur Russell.”

The new tunes 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."

Tim lived 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.

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.

A third keyboard player contributed - Thighpaulsandra, best known for his work for Julian Cope, Coil, Spiritualized and Elizabeth Fraser.

"I found out that he was based at ‘Rockfield’ [legendary residential facility near Monmouth, South Wales]. So I said, ‘Okay, that’s where we’re going to record the rest of it’.” As well as enlisting his know-how as an engineer, the cosmically-inclined Welshman also applied vintage synths and what Tim hazily calls “wizardry”.

"Undertow" was described by Tim as “a mood-changer, influenced by 10cc.”

"Only Took A Year" makes a joking reference to the album’s twelve-month gestation period, and the quip, “what’s your favorite Cure LP? I like ‘Pornography! But it could be any one of three.”

"I Got This" has the line “the future is friendly”. Says Tim: “Everyone’s been going through a lot of tough times. And the future is uncertain. But you have to have that optimistic outlook – like, waking up in the morning and feeling that it’s gonna be a good day.”

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.”

Tim will be touring the album with a live ensemble featuring Daniel O’Sullivan, Thighpaulsandra, another O Genesis artiste called Keel Her, and 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.”

Tour dates:

3/12/2020 - New York, NY - Pianos

3/13/2020 - New York, NY - Berlin
3/14/2020 - New York, NY - The Delancey
3/19/2020 - Austin,TX - Palm Door
3/20/2020 - Austin,TX - Lazarus Brewing Co.
5/1/2020 - Newcastle, UK - Hit The North 'Opening Party' @ Think Tank
5/2/2020 - Leeds, UK - Live at Leeds
5/3/2020 - Liverpool, UK - Sound City
5/20/2020 - Nottingham, UK - Rough Trade
5/22/2020 - London, UK - Rough Trade East
5/24/2020 - Dartington, UK - Sea Change Festival
5/25/2020 - Bristol, UK - Rough Trade
5/27/2020 - Manchester, UK - Night & Day
6/6/2020 - Barcelona, ES - Primavera Sound
6/9/2020 - Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms
6/10/2020 - Kendal, UK - Brewery
6/12/2020 - Glasgow, UK - King Tut's
6/14/2020 - Bristol, UK - Thekla
6/16/2020 - Cardiff, UK - Clwb Ifor Bach
6/17/2020 - Portsmouth, UK - Wedgewood Rooms
6/18/2020 - London, UK - Oslo
6/20/2020 - Manchester, UK - YES
7/26/2020 - North Yorkshire, UK - Deer Shed Festival

Track listing:

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

Pre-order I Love The New Sky HERE