Dark Matters That Are Detectable - The Stranglers Show Us How-To

I was coming of age when "Peaches" by The Stranglers hit and was hooked. Part garage- and punk-rock and later meandering into synth-pop, but always with a punch and irresistible hooks, the ratters delivered. And now 44 years later, an almost decade-long wait for a new album, The Stranglers are back and I'm still hooked. Next Friday (9/10) "DARK MATTERS" drops and judging from the three so far released teaser singles, we are in for a fabulous 18th album.

And no, it's not really a comeback, and more of putting the icing on top of an almost 50-year long career as one of the leading UK bands.  It is also a celebration of their much-missed keyboarder Dave Greenfield, who succumbed to Covid19 a year ago.

“We had already recorded most of the album with him and during the lockdowns, our only wish was to complete it as a fitting tribute to his life and work. I consider this to be one of our finest recordings,” says the only remaining original member, JJ Burnel. 

 Eight of the eleven tracks carry Dave's signature keys sound and the band added an honest tribute to him with the first single of the album, ‘And If You Should See Dave…’

Even though melancholic in its lyrics

It would be nice to say hello

This is where your solo would go

If you should see Dave

the song has a warm, twangy feel to it and embraces the old friend who helped define the sounds of the band for 45 years. The video, a cruise by all the legendary rock venues of sun-drenched Los Angeles, has also some worthwhile details to discover, be it the disappearing rats or a hint to their fifth album "GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE MENINBLACK," with its instrumental "Waltzinblack" that prominently features Greenfield and served as the opener to The Stranglers' live shows. 

Burnel and Baz Warne, the surviving members finished "DARK MATTERS" remotely during the lockdown with the help of their longtime producer Louie Nicastro. For an insight into the production of the new disc watch the behind-the-scene videos at the bottom of the blog. 

 

"DARK MATTERS" are not only part of our universe, but quite often, especially with the intellect of The Stranglers transcend into other spheres. Without darkness, we could not see the light and vice versa. Not everything can be explained, some mysteries stay in the dark, like the origins of the Easter Island moai for instance that now adorn the cover of the new disc.  

The second teaser single changes pace and some of the electronics with a fabulous Dave Greenfield, embedded into "If Something's Gonna Kill Me (It Might As Well Be Love)" hint at Kraftwerk or even to the Doors' Ray Manzarek. As to the lyrics, we all know that the variables are interchangeable, the Martians can be a metaphor for a rapidly changing environment, for a virus crippling the world, or simply for a fill-in of your own angst. 

You wake me up one morning and the world has changed

It’s war and the Martians have arrived

The world goes in meltdown and I miss you

The world goes in meltdown and I miss you

Earthquakes may happen

And the heavens open

If something’s gonna kill me

It might as well be love

 Even though a two-year-old live version with Greenfield is available on YouTube, a studio version of "This Song" from the new album is the third teaser single. Nottingham Forest football legend Stuart Pearce, a long-time fan of the band, guest-stars as a Bond-like character, trying to escape some free-runners and ultimately realizing that he has to confront them head-on. 
 

 JJ calls "DARK MATTERS" in an interview with John Robb, 

"the most grown-up album The Stranglers ever did with no need to subscribe to anyone's ideas what the band should be."

 Next Friday we can verify that and I'm excited to do so. If "DARK MATTER" is ordered from the band's website, buyers will also receive a special bonus disc a Tribute to Dave Greenfield, containing 8 previously unreleased songs featuring him. 

 
 The Stranglers are also going forward with what they call their 47-stop "Final Full Tour" - originally scheduled for last year - starting in October in Belgium and finishing it up before Christmas in France,  and then in early 2022 with a run-through the UK. Dave will be replaced by one of his disciples that "learned of the Keyboard man's fingertips."

For a full tour schedule and to pre-order the album with the bonus disc, visit The Stranglers' website.  

  
Behind the scenes - the grandiose "White Stallion" and below "Payday"

 

 

Blog Merge - On my own behalf

 As more and more blogs and podcasts hit the internet and an overview is almost impossible, I decided to merge all my music blogs into one all-encompassing, single outlet - here. 

 What used to be the MMM - Musig, Musik, Musique... blog also got a new name, as 95 percent of the me-inspiring music is in the Americana field, be it Rock'n'Roll, Country, Folk, Roots-Rock, Blues, Rock, and all its different amalgams, I decided to rename my blog site to "amu-ricana." And yes, there may be an occasional excursion into other fields of musical inspiration.  

 Over the next few weeks, I will incorporate and if necessary update old(er) blogs from other sites (Honky Tonk Daily, Country Music News) here. New blogs will be exclusively posted here. For the time being, I will not delete the old blog sites until I can put it all in this blog.  

 Be sure to subscribe, come visit often and rummage through my different offerings. Leave a comment, share the blogs if you can, and first of all get inspired with music you may not have known so far. 

Thanks for being a reader
A. Michael Uhlmann (amu)

Photo: Conny Charlie Ekström 

Jason Eady readies "TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME"

Texas-based, Mississippi-bred singer-songwriter Jason Eady comes with a new album on August, 27th and so far teased us with three magnificent singles, "Back To Normal," "My Best Friend," and now "French Summer Sun."  Recorded in Austin, with the help of producer Gordy Quist, the three singles all have a raw, organic feel. 

All these singles from "TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME" have a common theme, as the title suggests a constant flow of time. Alpha and Omega, start and end - be it in the present, the past, or the future - time passes on, change is inevitable:

Every day is a brand-new beginning

Isn’t that what all the sages say?

So every night is a brand new ending

Tomorrow can’t be like yesterday

That's Eady's conclusion in "Back To Normal," the first single of "TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME." Even though the song resonates with the (disappearing) pandemic, the message has a broader appeal, as we will find ourselves always in new, unchartered waters: 

“I wanted to write about how, when things get disrupted, you can never really return to the way they were before,” says Eady in his press release. “No matter how big or small that disruption is, you have to accept that change is a fundamental part of life, and just keep moving forward.” 

Even though the single cover for "Back To Normal" suggests a world upside down, Eddy got a burst of creativity, while holed up in his Fort Worth home. Secluding himself, even more, he stayed in his bedroom with his guitar and wrote half of the album in just a couple of days. 

"I went in thinking I was going to write just one song—but then the songs kept coming, and I didn’t want to break the spell," Eady recalls. "I’d go to sleep with the guitar by the bed, pick it back up when I woke up the next morning, and do it all again. I’d never really experienced anything like that before."

Now I wish that I had whispered 

Even one word at a time

Now all I can do is wonder

And try to make it rhyme

Reminiscing about an old love gone awry, indulging in memories about a time long gone by, a missed opportunity, and putting the pain of that loss into rhyme, sums up "My Best Friend." The stripped-down version, simply with fiddle (Noah Jeffries) and steel guitar (Geoff Queen), make the yearning about the missed chance, even more hurtful. Producer Gordy Quist, known as a member of the Band Of Heathens, was able to convey an organic, raw feel to the whole recording process in Austin. Besides Jeffries and Queen, Eady was joined by Mark Williams on stand-up bass and cello, Brian Ferguson on drums, as well as Eady's wife Courtney Patton and Jamie Lin Wilson on background vocals. 

“Everything you hear is exactly what happened when we hit record—there’s no studio trickery,” says Eady. “It’s got a real family-band feeling to it, where everyone in the room knew how to play in a way that completely fits with what I do.”

For the current single and its video, "French Summer Sun," Jason Eady asked fellow members of the Sequestered Songwriters Relief Fund, a loose organization that was founded to help musicians in need during the pandemic, to send in pictures of family and relatives who served in the US military. Again touching on time, actually spanning several generations, "French Summer Sun" with its twist in storytelling is not just another song about veterans, similarly to "My Best Friend" it raises the question of "what if" and playfully challenges the timeline and leads into an alternate reality. But to tell you more would spill the beans, listen for yourself and grab a hanky.  

If the rest of "TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME" holds up to the first three singles we may well have a "Best Album Of The Year"-contender. As he is back on the road, bringing his stories to a venue near you, I can only recommend going and discover these new gems coming our way in August. 

TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME:

01) Nothing On You 

02) These Things 

03) The Luxury of Dreaming 

04) Back To Normal 

05) Possibilities 

 06) French Summer Sun 

07) Gainesville 

08) Saturday Night 

09) My Best Friend 

10) To the Passage of Time

"French Summer Sun"   

"My Best Friend"


"Back To Normal"

Tour Dates:

7/24: Buda, TX - The Chambers Theatre

8/1: Fort Worth, TX - The Post at River East #

8/6: Saint Jo, TX - Red River Station #

8/7: College Station, TX - Smitty K’s ^

8/14: Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge

8/15: Cheyenne, WY - Terry Bison Ranch

8/17: Billings, MT - The Pub Station Taproom

8/18: Bozeman, MT - Live from the Divide

8/19: Stanley, ID - Mountain Village

8/20: Boise, ID - Neurolux

8/22: Republic, WA - Republic Brewing Company

8/26: Houston, TX - McGonigel’s Mucky Duck

8/27: Austin, TX - Saxon Pub 

8/28: Fort Worth, TX - Tulips FTW

8/29: New Braunfels, TX - The Redbird Listening Room

9/3: Manitou Springs, CO - Lulu’s Downstairs

9/4: Greeley, CO - Moxi Theater

9/9: Tahlequah, OK - Diamondhead Resort

9/10: Kansas City, MO - Knucklehead’s Saloon #

9/15: Decatur, GA - Eddie’s Attic

9/17: Newport, KY - Southgate House

9/18: Eldorado, IL - Eldorado Town & Country Days +

11/27: Denton, TX  - Andy’s Bar and Grill

Sources: Missing Piece, jasoneady.com,  
Originally published in my Honky Tonk Daily Blog.