UNKLE ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM
The Road Part 1 out Friday June 23 on Pod via Rhythmethod
New track “Looking For The Rain” out now
After a dynamic twenty-five year career as an artist, curator and tastemaker, James Lavelle returns with UNKLE’s fifth studio album: The Road Part 1, out Friday June 23.
Lavelle has also revealed a new single off the album, “Looking For The Rain”, a call to arms in our turbulent modern world, written by Lavelle and long time collaborator Mark Lanegan and featuring Mercury prize nominee ESKA.
LISTEN – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kBv2D6lr-M
The Road Part 1 is a collective creative venture by musicians including London folk-rock artist and poet Keaton Henson, Primal Scream’s Andrew Innes, The Duke Spirit’s Liela Moss, Lanegan, and ?ESKA. Lavelle also found new friends and collaborators in Queens of the Stone Age drummer Jon Theodore and Beck drummer Justin Stanley, who both make definitive contributions throughout the record.
Recorded in London and Los Angeles’ Pink Duck Studios, The Road Part 1 is the product of a desire to create something fresh and innovative, that also celebrates the rich history of UNKLE, and showcases a new wave of talent such as ?Elliott Power, Mïnk and YSEÉ.
James Lavelle praises the role of collaboration at the core of the new project “I hadn’t made a record in a while, and the incarnation of UNKLE had changed in that now, it was me on my own. For that reason, I wanted to make a record that I hadn’t been able to before, going back to the roots of where I came from, with a foot in modern London.”
The importance of the visual experience is also a central part of The Road Part 1 and its story. Following the immense success of his critically acclaimed exhibition Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick last summer at London’s Somerset House, Lavelle continued his collaborative relationship with esteemed artists throughout the creation of The Road Part 1.
This includes cinematic and thought-provoking official videos from artists and visionaries including Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones (“Cowboys or Indians”, “Sick Lullaby”); Norbert Schroener (“The Road”); and many more to be revealed.
The masterfully curated list of visual collaborators extends to the physical release of The Road Part 1, which will include a 36-page booklet featuring artwork by contemporary luminaries including Turner Prize nominee Nathan Coley, John Isaacs, David Nicholson, Schoerner, Doug Foster, Du Preez and Thornton Jones. It was designed by James Lavelle and up-and-coming designer George Stewart-Lockhart.
In over two decades since UNKLE’s debut, Lavelle has been prolific. He released UNKLE’s debut album Psyence Fiction with the legendary DJ Shadow behind the desk, was lead producer for three other studio albums (Never Never Land, War Stories and Where Did The Night Fall), a host of critically acclaimed film scores, and curated a series of art exhibitions, most notably, the hugely successful Daydreaming With Stanley Kubrick, and his latest exhibition Daydreaming with UNKLE Presents THE ROAD: SOHO at the Lazarides Gallery earlier this year.
The exhibition was a celebration the long history of UNKLE, and whilst The Road Part 1 may be their fifth studio album, it is in many ways a new beginning. With shows booked throughout the year and The Road Part 2 already in the making, it feels that even after nearly 25 years, the road for UNKLE has only just begun.
