Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band - Dear Scott [Blue Vinyl]

Format: LP, Blue Vinyl
Catalogue No.: M4826UKLPXX
Barcode: 5053760095309
Release Date: 23 Sep 2022
Genre: Folk/Americana

Indies exclusive blue vinyl – brand new colour. All vinyl pressed using eco friendly method with 60% reduction in energy consumption.

Vinyl repress of Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band – Dear Scott – released on June 3rd 2022, charting at #6 in the official UK chart, #1 in the independent album chart, #2 in the physical album chart and #2 in the vinyl album chart.

Finding that luck, love and letting things roll works out for him just fine, Michael Head leads his Red Elastic Band into a fresh chapter with optimism and some of the best music of his career with his, Bill Ryder-Jones-produced album, Dear Scott.

Revered by heavyweight songwriting peers and discovered by new generations of discerning listeners, all enraptured by the fruits of Head’s winding, 40-year career, the Liverpool singer-songwriter enters a new age of creativity and collaboration with Dear Scott. Promising to be a shimmering jewel cast by the minds and hearts of Merseyside’s finest musicians, the 12-track album is dusted with both Ryder-Jones’ artistry and the heavyweight musicianship of The Red Elastic Band, which Head found had ‘stepped up’ following almost a year apart, forcing him to dig deeper himself.

Of slipping back into writing and recording in 2021, Head continues: “After being apart for a while, I went for a walk on the beach with the band and it was beautiful, literally and personally. Rehearsals followed and it clicked into place, with one thing leading to the next. It’s very much the ethos we’re working by, keeping things simple, but keeping the momentum. I’d met Bill a few times and he’s a lovely guy. Once we knew he was interested in producing the album we didn’t need to think about it again, it just progressed and became a completely natural thing.”

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 Cummins on guitars and backing vocals.
Mojo Q&A + Lead Review- “To say it’s been worth the wait is an understatement” - 5/5
Uncut interview + Review - “A late career masterpiece” 9/10
Classic Pop - “Magical, moving and quietly defiant” 4/5
Shindig! Interview + Review - “A source of genuine joy” 4/5
The New Cue -“Dear Scott is his solo masterpiece...as good as any of the life changing records he made with the Pale Fountains or Shack”
+ Record Collector 6 page feature, H-Fi Magazine interview, Eighth Day Magazine Interview, XS Noize interview + more
Online: NME, Clash + more

TRACKLISTING
A1 Kismet
A2 Broken Beauty
A3 The Next Day
A4 Freedom
A5 American Kid
A6 Grace And Eddie
B7 Fluke
B8 Gino And Rico
B9 The Grass
B10 The Ten
B11 Pretty Child
B12 Shirls Ghost

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