Set for release next month (27 September 2019), Show of Hands return with Battlefield Dance Floor, their first album since 2016’s The Long Way Home and their first release for Proper Records. Battlefield Dance Floor will be their 18th studio album and was co-produced by Mark Tucker and Steve Knightley. It features 13 tracks which include 8 new songs (and a co-write) from Knightley as well as four reinterpretations of songs from Leonard Cohen, Kirsty Merryn, Richard Shindell and Adrian Mannering.
All the covers will be familiar to the band’s core fans. Mannering’s My True Love has already proven to be a winner during live sets as no doubt will Merryn’s Forfarshire which Steve duetted on for Merryn’s She and I album. From Leonard Cohen they deliver First We Take Manhattan, the opening track of I’m Your Man and previously featured on their Backlog 1987-1991 album. Finally, they cover Shindell’s Next Best Western on which they added their sparkle to on the recent ‘Special Relationship’ Tour with Shindell following their Costa Del Folk appearance together where Johnny Whalley interviewed Shindell for Folk Radio.
Alongside Steve, Phil Beer and Miranda Sykes, the band’s numbers are expanded to include Cormac Byrne whose skills as a percussionist go way beyond the ordinary as he demonstrated so well on Stone Soup, his album with Adam Summerhayes as well as in the larger ensemble of Dodo Street, whose latest album Natural Selection we reviewed here. His addition is sure to change the drive and dynamic of their sound. The press for the release doesn’t hide this fact either calling it a “classy cornucopia” and “an album that successfully melds vintage Show of Hands and brand new material, infusing influences old and new and this time, as a four-strong band with even greater depth and panache.”
Says Steve: “With the heartbeat and harmonies that Cormac and Miranda add, we are at last creating a sound we’ve dreamed of making for twenty-five years!”
Take a listen to the teaser video for the album below which will be supported by a “Now We Are Four” Tour:
The album is released on 27 September and is available to pre-order on CD, double vinyl and digital. The double vinyl version features two bonus tracks.
Pre-order here https://smarturl.it/bfielddancefloor
Now We Are Four Tour (with Miranda Sykes & Cormac Byrne)
Wed, Oct 30 – The Beehive, Honiton
Thu, Oct 31 – Royal Hall, Harrogate
Fri, Nov 1 – Cast, Doncaster
Sat, Nov 2 – Gala Theatre & Cinema, Durham
Thu, Nov 7 – Brangwyn Hall, Swansea
Fri, Nov 8 – The Forum, Bath
Sat, Nov 9 – Westlands Yeovil, Yeovil
Wed, Nov 13 – Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury
Thu, Nov 14 – Epic Studios, Norwich
Fri, Nov 15 – Dorking Halls, Dorking
Sat, Nov 16 – City Hall Salisbury, Salisbury
Wed, Nov 20 – New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth
Thu, Nov 21 – The Alban Arena, St Albans
Fri, Nov 22 – Union Chapel, London
Sat, Nov 23 – De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill On Sea
Wed, Nov 27 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham
Thu, Nov 28 – Cheltenham Town Hall, Cheltenham
Fri, Nov 29 – The Engine Shed, Lincoln
Sat, Nov 30 – Leicester Haymarket Theatre, Leicester
Fri, Dec 6 – Exmouth Pavilion, Exmouth
Sat, Dec 7 – Exmouth Pavilion, Exmouth
Ticket links and more here: https://showofhands.co.uk