Dear Scott

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Head found the notion handy as a starting point amongst the sepia toned images of palm trees, pools and desperation; what transpired lives though in a number of worlds.

Taking in cities from Glasgow to Manchester and beyond to Bristol, Head and The Red Elastic Band complete the forthcoming tour with two, huge theatre shows, the first at Liverpool’s Eventim Olympia on Fri 10 June 2022 and the second in London, taking in the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire the following night. The lengthy sabbatical that followed at least left him mentally refreshed, reinvigorated and at last in a position to conjure up another renaissance, one shaped with producer Bill Ryder-Jones and recorded in his homely YAWN studio in West Kirby.

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On The Ten, he takes a whimsical bus ride –‘Floating past Kenny, up passed the icy and Yorkies where we’d sing’– which ends up at an abattoir and yet still seems full of other-dimensional magic. Dear Scott’, the much-anticipated album from Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band, is out today. Teeming with characters and places, its songs are essentially short stories, writes Kevin Pearce. Heading out together this summer, the band also looks ahead to its first, full UK Tour since forming in 2012. The run of eight dates culminates in two, huge theatre shows at Liverpool’s Eventim Olympiaon Fri 10 June 2022and the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in Londonon Sat 11 June 2022. The full run of 2022 UK Tour dates are confirmed as follows: In a rare, collaborative move for the songwriter, for whom isolation as a writer usually reveals the clearest voice, Kismetsnaked from the rehearsal room. It bears the hallmarks as the four-piece The Red Elastic Band wax and wane through Postcard jangle-pop and squalling-solo wig-outs, while Head, in vintage form, glances sing-a-long syllables off the swaggering beat. Released by independent label Modern Sky, the Bill Ryder-Jones produced Dear Scott also earned the guitar-wielding singer-songwriter his first ever 'proper' Top 10 album when it hit Number Six on the Official Chart.

Head and The Red Elastic Band look ahead to their first comprehensive UK Tour since forming in 2021, setting off on the eve of Dear Scott’s release to play a run of eight dates. Including a huge homecoming at Liverpool’s Eventim Olympia on Fri 10 June 2022 and visiting London to play the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Sat 11 June 2022, the full run of shows is confirmed as follows: The songs are probably his strongest since Waterpistol with a lush production, if a little bass heavy. Similar sound to Miles & Gill including a rewrite of ‘Funny things’. I even said to the lads, 'Before we finish these [gigs], there'll probably be one or two new ideas on the bubble'. It's exciting for me personally, but also for them too, because it helps keep things fresh." Dear Scott’s themes in part revolve – loosely – around Hollywood’s golden age, the titular subject being F.Scott Fitzgerald, whose descent to bankruptcy and installation in the decadent Garden Of Allah Hotel prompted him to write a postcard to self.

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It's still fresh in people's ears, I think. Even now when I'm out around Liverpool, the response I get is fantastic. There's always the odd person coming up to chat or shouting from a car window, like, short and sweet: 'Love the f****** album, lad'. That blows me away."

For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. The postcard read: Dear Scott, How are you? Have been meaning to come and see you. I have living at the Garden Of Allah. Yours Scott Fitzgerald In October 2017, Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band released an album called Adiós Señor Pussycat. It reached No. 1 on the UK Independent Albums Chart and No. 57 on the UK Albums Chart.

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In episode #86 of The XS Noize Podcast, Mark Millar catches up with one of the greatest ever British songwriters Michael Head of The Red Elastic Band. Michael Head leads his Red Elastic Band into a fresh chapter with optimism and some of the best music of his career. His new Bill Ryder-Jones-produced album, Dear Scott, will be released on Fri, 27 May 2022, via Modern Sky UK. Head has performed at St George’s Hall itself on numerous occasions, most recently with the Red Elastic Band. His manor, however, lies a mile or so east, a short hop down London Road and up into Kensington. This is where he spent his formative years during the ’70s. “It’s been an important route through town for centuries,” says Head, nursing a cappuccino and settling into the subject. “For me, personally, it’s a ley line of some kind.” And you're right, it's been a great year. We were only saying the other night that it's been brilliant, so doing some gigs right up to Christmas will keep the momentum going for the album. Indeed, listening to Dear Scott now, it's hard to believe that the songwriter didn't have an inkling that they were on to something really special while recording the album.

The old insecurities, doubts and personal demons that have blighted but not diminished Michael Head’s career, not may not yet be banished entire, who am I to say? But, when you listen to ‘’Dear Scott’ and hear these precious songs and his newly freed voice, the overwhelming feeling you get from this record is that they are no longer the taunting Banquo’s that haunted even his most inspiring albums. Are these songs then to save your mortal soul? In the case of Michael Head… Weren’t they always?History will tell whether Dear Scott is a wonderful, sensuous moment of clarity – and step towards an autumnal career filled with similar gems – or merely another bolt of lightning. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial? The ending feels like the only less than stellar moment, Shirl’s Ghost an all too brief piano and strings instrumental, a definite comedown after its predecessor, the rousing Pretty Child, has so ably matched neighbours The Coral at their beat psychedelic best, the tale a divertingly strange one of a sex worker eventually usurped by her own daughter. It'd be good to keep the momentum going. We were rehearsing the other night and going through the set list, which has obviously been predominantly from Dear Scott, but at the last couple of gigs we also integrated a couple of new ideas into the set – which is something I've always tried to do. For most of his career, Head has arguably been the poet laureate of Liverpool in his songs, and an expert in turning the mundane into the magical, and The Ten is his great Liverpool song on the record, a deeply personal tale of a rum bus journey with his brother John and mate Badger, “Floating past Kenny, up past the Icy and Yorkies where we’d sing” to see his dad who worked on Kensington market. From the jazzy, almost mellow vibes of ‘Gino and Rico’ to the classic Byrdsian chimes of Pretty Girl, Dear Scott is a consistently enervating, uplifting and often moving triumph. Like all works of genuine beauty it may take time to reveal all its wonders, but reveal them it will.