THE DAMNED PREMIERE FIRST SINGLE “STANDING ON THE EDGE OF TOMORROW” FROM 2018 ALBUMΒ EVIL SPIRITS
UK TOUR BEINGS JANUARY 26th
Formed in 1976 at the forefront of the fledgling London punk scene, The Damned kick-started the birth of punk as we know it, leaving an influential legacy for generations to come. Their musical journey has seen the quintet intent on moving forward, courageously exploring sights and sounds way beyond their brash wide-eyed beginnings -and theyβre back to do it all over again.
Some ten years since the release of their last studio recordings, The Damned return with a new album, βEvil Spiritsβ, to be released April 13thΒ on Search And Destroy/Spinefarm Records, preceded by the new single βStanding On The Edge Of TomorrowβΒ streaming online today ahead of their forthcoming Evil Spirits UK tour starting January 26th.
Propelled by an enormously successful Pledge funding campaign, the band headed to Atomic Sound Studios in Brooklyn in early October 2017 and began a frantic, high-energy, nine day burst of creativity with famed producer Tony Visconti, whose list of past working-relationships reads like a whoβs who of popular music. (David Bowie, T Rex, Morrissey, U2, The Stranglers, Iggy Pop and Thin Lizzy to name but a few!) Reunited with former bassist Paul Gray (who played on the legendary βBlack Albumβ and βStrawberriesβ in the early eighties), the renewed line upΒ took full advantage of the studioβs classic Neve recording desk, valve gear and vintage equipment to form the new record.
βWe deliberately recorded the album retro style,β explains guitarist Captain Sensible. βThe same way our debut album was made, basically. Thereβs something wonderful about the seventies sounds; glam, rock and punk records, they all sound so great and Tony specializes in beautifully crafted old school production. He had us all playing live, bashing it out in the same room with a focus on getting the initial band version of each song as close as possible to the finished thing.β
The first taste of βEvil Spiritsβ comes in the form of βStanding On The Edge Of Tomorrowβ, a song penned by frontman Dave Vanian that packs a punch and carries a melody that is impossibly hard to shift once heard.
βItβs supposed to be very optimistic, even though itβs about a dark subject,β states Vanian. βAs an artist, you canβt help but reflect the times, because thatβs what art does. I think we always do it, but in a slightly different way. So a song like βStandingβ¦β may seem quite joyous and uplifting musically,
but some of the lyrics might be about quite dark things. Thatβs what Iβd like to think this album is β an uplifting album, not a moaning old album β not βthis is terrible, and thatβs terribleβ, and then not offering any answers. Itβs more a case of, βIf we get it together, maybe we could change things a bit”.
Across the albumβs ten-tracks, The Damned get to the root of their collective song-writing and βEvil Spiritsβ is an album which doesnβt shrink from opposing the dastardly political forces at work in 2018, and indeed triumphs in seeking higher ground, to progress beyond them.
βThis album is filled with a lot of influences from our earlier, pre-β70s tastes β the β60s stuff. βStandingβ¦β is really linked into Joe Meek, βTelstarβ, and that kind of stuff,β continues Vanian. At first, Iβd said in an interview before we started writing this stuff that the album would be psychedelic, and maybe a trip through the historical side of The Damned, as in what we like. It didnβt happen in the way I thought it would, but it still does the same thing. It still has all that in there, but itβs not as obvious as it couldβve been, which is good. Itβs not like pastiches of songs you remember, itβs more a case of, what was great about something you loved as a kid has somehow influenced a guitar sound, or the way the drums are. You might not even know it if youβre one of our younger fans, but if youβre a little older, youβll hear it, which is kinda cool.βΒ
And of the βEvil Spiritsβ that the album intends to dispel?Β Β βI started buying records in 1967, the Summer of Love,β adds Captain Sensible. βThere were so many positive changes happening through the 60s and 70s; civil rights, feminism, the anti-nuclear demos in particular. Whatever happened to all that? Where are todayβs anti-war marches? Whatever happened to the beautiful hippy dream of worldwide peace and love?β
Evil Spirits will be available on digital download via Spotify and i-Tunes, on CD and 180g vinyl available to pre-order HERE.
Catch the band on tour this January and February. Main support comes from fabled Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom (*except Koko), whilst support at Koko and The Forum comes from Kristeen Young.
See The Damned On Their Evil SpiritsΒ Tour 2018
26th January – Newcastle, O2 Academy
27th January – Dundee, Caird Hall
28th January – Glasgow, O2 Academy
30th January – Leeds, O2 Academy Leeds
31st January – Manchester, Academy 1
1st February – Birmingham, O2 Academy
3rd February – Leicester, O2 Academy
4th February – Nottingham, Rock City
6th February – Folkestone, Leas Cliff Hall
7th February – Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
9th February – Cardiff, Great Hall
10th February – Bristol O2, Academy Bristol
11th February – Bournemouth, O2 Academy
13th February – Southampton, O2 Guildhall
14th February – Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion
16th February – Koko, London*
17th February London, O2 Forum
The Damned
Evil Spirits
(Search And Destroy/Spinefarm Records)
Release Date: April 13, 2018
Evil SpiritsΒ Track Listing
1. Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow
2. Devil In Disguise
3. Weβre So Nice
4. Look Left
5. Evil Spirits
6. Shadow Evocation
7. Sonar Deceit
8. Procrastination
9. Daily Liar
10. I Donβt Care
ArtistΒ Links
(BackgroundΒ Photo Credit: Steve Gullick)
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DAMNED – EVIL SPIRITS
