THE PROCLAIMERS
Following early success on the strength of their blend of pop and politics, the brothers Reid – Charlie and Craig– have reached the rarefied status that few have been able to achieve: with nearly three decades of career longevity, they are as innovative as ever. With every album and show played, they’ve garnered new fans, all the while consistently replenishing one of the most prec ious resources in music – thoughtful pop albums. The breadth of the brothers’ talent is evidenced with their acoustic EP, a reimagining of three of the songs on 2007’s Life With You, plus a cover of the Kings of Leon’s “17.” It’s a true return to form for the band. “That’s how we started out,” explains Craig. “It’s a good thing to do, just to show people a different aspect of your music.” Indeed, the reworking of the songs previously featured on Life With You place the political message front and center, while the rollicking version of “17” gives the Kings of Leon a sense of what might have been. When the Reid brothers decided to embark on an acoustic tour of North America, including 7 gigs in 5 days at SXSW 2009, they thought it’d be fun to cover a contemporary act in the course of their shows. “We knocked a few names about and the Kings of Leon came up – Charlie and I both like [them]. We thought we could do a version of ‘17’ and it was something [we] could do in a different way from the Kings of Leon, but it could still work.” The result is a speedier, more playful variation on that recurrent rock trope: a young girl. “It’s quite a romantic song, but it’s got a real hard bite to it.” . The rest of the EP takes on some of the band’s most politicized material, dealing with the British honors system, political responsibility and the unending wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. “We would never shy away from doing songs with political content on our records,” says Craig. “If you have no political view or you just think people in music should be entertainers and nothing else, that’s fair enough. If you do have political leanings and you’re serious about your work, those political views are going to come out.”
The Proclaimers, announce a June 15th UK/ June 16th Canada, 2009 release date for their 8th Studio album “Notes & Rhymes” (Universal/Fontana North). PIC OF ALBUM SLEEVE The first single, Love Can Move Mountains is available in UK as a digital download on 8th June 2009.
The Reid’s continued spirit of political consciousness blended with ear-catching pop hooks is present on Notes and Rhymes, according to Craig, their most somber yet. Written over the shortest amount of time of any of their albums, Notes and Rhymes serves as an up-to-the-minute examination of their feelings on both music and politics. “It’s not a down album or an unhappy album,” says Craig. “But I think it’s a bit more serious than the previous one,” which was also recorded with producer Steve Evans (Robert Plant, Siouxsie Sioux).
While they’re excited about the material on Notes and Rhymes, the Proclaimers have been eagerly enjoying returning to the road, where they’ve been honing their skills for decades. May saw them playing further acoustic shows on the US East Coast and late June sees them returning to the road for the rest of the year with their live band Stevie Christie, Garry John Kane, Zac Ware and Clive Jenner. Dates confirmed so far include a Canadian July tour, several UK festivals in August and a 24 date UK tour in October/November.
2008 saw The Proclaimers bring a 129 date, year long World tour to a triumphant conclusion with 2 final shows July 19/20 at Edinburgh Castle and a big top at Bught Park, Inverness. Craig and Charlie then got down to writing new songs forthe Notes & Rhymes album for the remainder of the year. Earlier, March 2008 saw The Proclaimers tour across Europe before heading off to USA & Canada for a 2 month coast to coast tour. They followed that with a variety of shows from Muscat to Bermuda, alongside English seaside resort gigs and European festivals including their fourth Glastonbury appearance. September 2007 had seen The Proclaimers release their seventh studio album ‘Life With You’ (W14/Universal) to fantastic critical acclaim and great commercial success. October then saw The Proclaimers kick off their biggest ever UK & Ireland tour playing to over 100,000 fans. In Scotland, they sold more gig tickets than any other single act in 2007. The summer saw them play at a number of festivals, including 2 triumphant main stage performances at V Festivals. Earlier in 2007 they topped the UK singles chart in March with a rousing new rendition of their classic anthem I'm Going to Be (500 Miles), collaboration with comedians Peter Kay and Matt Lucas for Comic Relief, raising over a million pounds in the process. EMI relaunched their 2002 Best Of collection, re-entering the Album Charts at No 5 with sales soaring beyond platinum.
(The Proclaimers Facebook Page - 10/09/12)
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