We recently shared the news of Lankum‘s fourth album ‘False Lankum’ which was accompanied by their first single ‘Go Dig My Grave’ with a video by Peadar Gill/Vicky Langan. Today, they are releasing their new single ‘The New York Trader‘, a traditional folk song that has been recorded and performed by a number of artists over the years – although none quite like this.
Ian Lynch of Lankum, who delivered the fantastic Irish music and song anthology Fire Draw Near in 2021 and his solo haunting beauty …And Take The Black Worm With Me last year, had this to say about the song:
“We started working on the New York Trader in January 2021. Someone who had done terrible things had found themselves in command of the ship and in order for the passengers and crew to save themselves, it became necessary to throw the captain overboard into the deep, hopefully never to return. We did what was necessary, but now live in fear as the bloated corpse threatens to resurface, this time commanding an army of the dead. We learned it, like so many other great songs, from Ringsend native and all round legend Luke Cheevers. It is one of a group of songs (sometimes referred to as the ‘Jonah Ballads’). The words to the song may be based on an older ballad called ‘The Pirate’ in which the destination was New Barbary rather than ‘Amerikay’. It was printed on broadsides in the UK where it was quite popular in the 19th century, and versions were subsequently collected in Wiltshire, Norfolk and Nova Scotia in the 20th century.”
Through the haunting drones, you can almost feel the heavy swirling sea swallowing up the bloated corpse while the finale offers a toe-tapper that could raise an army of the dead. Watch the accompanying visualiser video below.
The video was directed by Michael Speed and Jono Canning at Beggars. The visuals are based on the work of Gustav Dore, whose illustrations you’ll find in the cover artwork for False Lankum.
“False Lankum” will be released on Rough Trade Records on the 24th of March 2023. Pre-order here https://lankum.ffm.to/falselankum
Following on from their much anticipated sell out show at The Barbican on 4th May 2023, Lankum will return to London in December 2023 to play The Roundhouse – their biggest headline gig to date. With their April/May tour almost completely sold out, the band will return to Amsterdam and Berlin in November 2023 and will play their first German tour. Full dates below.
Forthcoming Lankum Tour Dates
APRIL
25th Apr – Silent Green, Berlin, Germany – sold out
28th Apr – Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, Netherlands– sold out
30th Apr – Le Botanique, Brussels, Belgium
MAY
2nd May – Petit Bain, Paris, France
4th May – London, Barbican, London, UK – sold out
10th May – St Lukes, Glasgow, UK – sold out
11th May – Band on the Wall, Manchester, UK – sold out
Fri 12th May – SWX, Bristol, UK – sold out
19th May – Mandela Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland – sold out
20th May – Cork Opera House, Cork, Ireland – sold out
24th May – Cork Opera House, Cork, Ireland
29th May – Vicar St, Dublin, Ireland * new date
30th May – Vicar St, Dublin, Ireland – sold out
31st May – Vicar St, Dublin, Ireland – sold out
JUNE
28th Jun – Pop Messe, Brno, Czech Republic
JULY
4th Jul – All Together Now Festival, Co Waterford, Ireland
AUGUST
17-21st Aug – Green Man Festival, Brecon Beacons, UK
SEPTEMBER
1-3rd Sep – Supersonic Festival, Birmingham, UK
NOVEMBER
17th Nov – Manufaktur, Schorndorf, Germany
19th Nov – Transcentury Update Festival, Leipzig, Germany
22nd Nov – Lido, Berlin, Germany
23rd Nov – Stadtgarten, Köln, Germany
26th Nov – Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
DECEMBER
13th Dec – The Roundhouse, London, UK
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