The veteran British artist’s first full-length collection in over five years, SHUFFLEMANIA! is heralded by the first single, “The Shuffle Man,” with instrumental and vocal accompaniment from musician/producer/artist Brendan Benson. An official music video is streaming now at YouTube.
“The Shuffle Man is the imp of change,” says Hitchcock, “the agent of fortune. He throws the cards up in the air and leaves you to deal with where they fall. He is the exhilaration of chaos – with fast hands and a stovepipe hat.”
WATCH “THE SHUFFLE MAN” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
Having found himself burned out following the completion of 2017’s acclaimed ROBYN HITCHCOCK, a 2019 Christmas visit to the ancient palace of Quetzalcoatl in Tulum, Mexico brought forth new song “Feathery Serpent God.” More new songs materialized as Hitchcock flew home to his adopted Nashville.
When the pandemic happened, Hitchcock bought a 5-track recording device – not dissimilar to the 4-track cassette machine on which he wrote and arranged his landmark I OFTEN DREAM OF TRAINS more than three decades earlier. He emailed his freshly recorded guitar-and-vocal songs to a star-studded selection of his (many) musician friends around the world, all of whom were also marooned at home with time to spare and much more sophisticated recording equipment than he himself was using, among them Brendan Benson, Johnny Marr, Sean Ono Lennon, Kimberley Rew, Morris Windsor, Davey Lane (You Am I) and Pat Sansone (Wilco), all of whom proved more than happy to contribute.
As things opened up somewhat in the second half of 2020, Hitchcock and his partner Emma Swift returned to London, booking a final session at Abbey Road where they re-recorded most of his vocals, with Swift – a singer with an ear “far more acute than mine” – acting as producer. Stems for the whole project were then sent to longtime friend, producer/engineer Charlie Francis (The High Llamas), who mixed the album in his Cardiff attic.
As things opened up somewhat in the second half of 2020, Hitchcock and his partner Emma Swift returned to London, booking a final session at Abbey Road where they re-recorded most of his vocals, with Swift – a singer with an ear “far more acute than mine” – acting as producer. Stems for the whole project were then sent to longtime friend, producer/engineer Charlie Francis (The High Llamas), who mixed the album in his Cardiff attic.
The songs and subject matter span but are not limited to, TV detectives, astrology, imaginary pubs, Greek philosophers, streetcars, sea creatures, recurring dreams, and the feathered serpent deity Quetzalcoatl.
“To me, most songs are about themselves and how they make you feel,” says Hitchcock. “What triggers them is mysterious. The songs on this record are a series of sub-personalities, fertilized by chance. You might even say they were cards, dealt to me by The Shuffle Man. Listening back now, to me SHUFFLEMANIA! is a party record, direct from my unconscious to you. Even if you’re a party of one – have fun with it!”
Initial tour dates will include the United Kingdom, Norway, and the United States. Additional dates will be announced. For updates and ticket information, please visit www.robynhitchcock.com/tour.
Track listing:
The Shuffle Man
The Inner Life of Scorpio
The Feathery Serpent God
Midnight Tram To Nowhere
Socrates In Thin Air
Noirer Than Noir
The Man Who Loves The Rain
The Sir Tommy Shovel
The Raging Muse
One Day (It’s Being Scheduled)
The Inner Life of Scorpio
The Feathery Serpent God
Midnight Tram To Nowhere
Socrates In Thin Air
Noirer Than Noir
The Man Who Loves The Rain
The Sir Tommy Shovel
The Raging Muse
One Day (It’s Being Scheduled)
TOUR DATES:
SEPTEMBER
13 - Falmouth, United Kingdom - The Cornish Bank
14 - Totnes, United Kingdom - The Barrel House
15 - Bristol, United Kingdom - Redgrave Theatre
20 - Hertford, United Kingdom - Hertford Corn Exchange
21 - Reading, United Kingdom - South Street Arts Centre
22 - Deal, United Kingdom - The Lighthouse
23 - Norwich, United Kingdom - Norwich Puppet Theatre
OCTOBER
2 - Asker, Norway - Venskaben
4 - Trondheim, Norway - Bar Moskus
NOVEMBER
10 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
11 - Decatur, GA - Eddie's Attic
12 - Decatur, GA - Eddie's Attic
16 - Nashville, TN - The Basement
FEBRUARY 2023
25 - London, United Kingdom - Alexandra Palace Theatre
MARCH 2023
1 - Glasgow, United Kingdom - Mono
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