KISMET
Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band – Kismet – OUT NOW
Dear Scott, Released Fri 27 May 2022 – Modern Sky UK
2022 UK Tour – On-Sale Now
Pre-Order Details, Bundles and Tickets: www.michaelheadofficial.com
Conjuring pure beauty in song, often in ugly times, has long been Michael Head’s gift to the world and with Kismet, his first new music in five years, the legendary songwriter consolidates his position. As the opening track from his forthcoming Bill Ryder-Jones-produced album, Dear Scott, is revealed, the first window into Head and The Red Elastic Band’s profound new plane of musical and personal understanding is flung wide open.
Winding through forty years of music, first with The Pale Fountains, then the legendary Shack and The Strands, Head stands close to pinnacle of his latest peak. Saying so much about a new sense of que-sera-sera around the artist and those joining him on the summit ascent, Kismet – the Middle East-originated term for fate – is the sound of confidence restored, love assured and taking every day as it arrives and departs.
In a rare, collaborative move for the songwriter, for whom isolation as a writer usually reveals the clearest voice, Kismet snaked 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.
On releasing the single, Head says: “Kismet’s about being stranded, the kindness of strangers, love and destiny.”
Dear Scott, released on Fri 27 May 2022 with Modern Sky UK, promises to be a shimmering jewel cast by the minds and hearts of Merseyside’s finest musicians. 12-tracks are blessed by not only Head’s revived vigour, but Ryder-Jones’ artistry and the heavyweight musicianship of The Red Elastic Band.
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 Olympia on Fri 10 June 2022 and the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London on Sat 11 June 2022. The full run of 2022 UK Tour dates are confirmed as follows:
Wed 1 June – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Thu 2 June – Newcastle, The Cluny
Fri 3 June – Glasgow, St Luke’s
Sat 4 June – Manchester, Gorilla
Wed 8 June – Bristol, Thekla
Thu 9 June – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
Fri 10 June – Liverpool, Eventim Olympia
Sat 11 June – London, o2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Remaining tickets for all shows can be found via ticket links available at www.michaelheadofficial.com
Dear Scott refers to novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose debt-ridden, down-and-out years captured the imagination of Head, specifically a postcard Fitzgerald addressed to himself upon checking in at Hollywood’s infamous Golden Age retreat, The Garden Of Allah Hotel. Head explains: “A decade after being the king of the jazz age, Fitzgerald arrived unfashionable and sober, ready to conquer Hollywood. His agent with a sense of humour booked him into The Garden Of Allah, where writers, movie stars and even Stravinsky sometimes lived. He famously picked up a postcard on checking in and addressed it to himself.”
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
Head states that the formation of The Red Elastic Band in 2008 began with ‘whoever was available at the time’, primarily as a vehicle for live performance, producing one, previous album in 2017’s Adiós Señor Pussycat. The band has since developed into a cohesive, mutually-supportive and permanent line-up, with Phil Murphy on drums, Tom Powell on bass, Danny Murphy on guitars and Nathaniel Cummings on guitars and backing vocals being the musicians taking on the world in 2022 alongside Head.
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My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago and married my childhood sweetheart and life is good.
