News From Nowhere

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Cat No: HITBACK47CD

Release Date: 26 May 2014

Label: Weatherbox

Packaging Type: Digipak

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 5038622131128

Genres: Indie

Description
Spearmint return with a new album 'News From Nowhere' and play their first shows since 2009. News From Nowhere is their first album since the tenth anniversary edition of the classic 'A Week Away'. This album is more political than previous work - Shirley says: "As the years pass you either let go of the convictions you held in your youth, or your principles grow stronger and you become more fervent about your beliefs. Either way a gap opens between you and your younger self. This, more than anything, is what this album is about. I feel more passionate than ever about the way we are treating animals and what we are doing to this world. I believe that one day we will become a society that respects other creatures, and does not toler- ate factory farming or over-fishing. I believe that we will ultimately denounce slaughter for food, and not because of its health risks, or because of the damage it causes to the planet, or the cruelty it involves, or because this would allow us to feed the whole human race, though these things are clearly true. I believe that it will happen because of the water: when the crisis hits we simply will not be able to sustain the waste of so much water on such inefficient ways of producing food. The album takes several reference points - 'The Gleaners' is an 1857 painting by Millet depicting peasants eking out a simple existence from the land. "The Gleaners And I" is a 2000 film by Agnes Varda which explores the significance of the image and its contrast to our wasteful lives now. 'News From Nowhere' is an 1890 book by William Morris, in which the hero falls asleep in Hammersmith and wakes up the next morning to discover he is living in a socialist utopia one hundred years later (though still apparently quite a sexist world - at least he got that bit right) 'The Wombles' is a series of books from the sixties and seventies which spawned a successful TV show about creatures who live happily by utilising the things we humans throw away. Spearmint were formed in 1995, the band became the darlings of the media, Melody Maker proclaiming them as 'everything that makes pop music special'. Since the release of their debut 'A Week Away' the band have main- tained a steady output of material. In 2009 they recorded an album of romantic songs which is released as the debut solo album by Shirley Lee. The album is well received and includes the single 'The Smack Of The Pavement In Your Face' and fans favourite 'The Reservoir'. A second solo effort followed in 2011. Spearmint play the New York Popfest at the end of May with more dates to follow.
Tracklisting