Justin Currie returns to his songwriting throne with the announcement of his fourth solo album, This Is My Kingdom Now.
2016 seemed like a busy year for Justin Currie – with various performances including the Kelvingrove Bandstand (when the weather finally permitted) and a stunning collaboration with the RSNO in Paisley Abbey, along with helping to promote the work of charity SBH Scotland. However, the highly anticipated follow-up to his 2013 album Lower Reaches didn’t materialise.
Now we not only have the announcement of the new album – This is My Kingdom Now (to be released on 12 May via Endless Shipwreck Records) – but also a video for the title track and the release of UK tour dates with his band The Pallbearers.
The video is a minimal affair with Currie walking around in the dark – effectively taking an eerie slow motion video selfie. The track itself is less “suicide in a saucy shirt” (his words, not mine) than you might expect. Currie yet again succeeds – as he always did with band Del Amitri – to combine reflective and sometimes melancholy lyrics with beautiful melodies, whether they be chart-bothering pop or wistful americana.
The press release I have in front of me states “Currie lives and breathes in Glasgow, collects beer mats and makes his own cushions”, which succinctly reflects the appearance of nonchalance that he consistently adopts for his releases.
Don’t be fooled, though – This Is My Kingdom Now will no doubt be another example of Currie’s superior songwriting talent and a contender for many ‘album of the year’ lists.
Justin Currie & The Pallbearers, UK Tour Dates
May
Fri 26 – Perth Concert Hall
Sun 28 – Holmfirth Picturedrome
Mon 29 – Pocklington Arts Centre
Tue 30 – Wolverhampton Slade Rooms
Wed 31 – Liverpool Hangar 34
June
Fri 2 – Cambridge Junction 1
Sat 3 – Islington Assembly Hall
Sat 24 – Northern Roots Festival, Inverness
This article was written for Backseat Mafia.