On 10th August, Cooking Vinyl will release The Proclaimers’ first album since 2015’s Let’s Hear It For The Dogs.
Angry Cyclist finds The Proclaimers at the peak of their songwriting prowess. Instantly catchy hooks and melodies, trademark close harmonies, moving, as well as clever and subtle, biting lyrics, great arrangements with production by Dave Eringa.
They’ve also crafted a video to go with the release. Conceived and directed by Rianne White and set in a dystopian world, the video expounds on the message in the song – a dark interpretation of angry cyclists plugge dinto a machine and overloaded with evocative imagery of current and ongoing issues. Not the usual type of Sunshine On Leith cheeriness you’d expect from Craig and Charlie.
The title track is also the first single. Strings soundtrack a song full of Craig and Charlie’s impassioned vocals and a lyrical metaphor about the reactionary and bigoted times we live in. Their sharp, coruscating and dry observations continue on songs such as Looted, a song about the theft of the British Empire, and Classy, which takes a wry look at the ludicrous strata of the British class system.
The Proclaimers have always been politically and socially aware artists. On many of the Angry Cyclist songs they further skewer the hypocrisy and inequities that they see around them yet the album remains incredibly positive, hopeful and optimistic: the vitality and passion easily putting artists half their age, or younger, in the shade.
Angry Cyclist will be available on CD, LP, digital download and streaming services.
The Proclaimers are back out live from July through to December this year. As they head for a sell-out 47 shows in the UK, in Scotland they sold out 30,000 tickets in 20 minutes of going on sale. September sees The Proclaimers on a coast-to-coast 13-date tour of Canada.
The Proclaimers’ website is here
They are also on Facebook and Twitter
THE PROCLAIMERS LIVE 2018
JULY
21 Chalfest Stroud SOLD OUT
22 Llandudno Venue Cymru SOLD OUT
27 Carfest North
28 Carlisle Sands Centre SOLD OUT
29 Scarborough Spa Grand Hall
AUGUST
02 Ayr Town Hall SOLD OUT
03 Dunoon Queens Hall SOLD OUT
04 Oban Corrans Hall SOLD OUT
11 Bournemouth Pavilion
12 Lakefest Eastnor Castle Ledbury
22 Isle Of Man Villa Marina Royal Hall
24 Carfest South
25 Towersey Festival Thame
OCTOBER
10 Cardiff St Davids Hall
11 Norwich Theatre Royal SOLD OUT
13 Blackburn KGH
14 Liverpool Empire
16 Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
17 York Barbican SOLD OUT
18 Newcastle City Hall SOLD OUT
20 Hull City Hall
21 Sheffield City Hall
23 Leicester de Montfort Hall
24 Southend Cliffs Pavilion
25 Portsmouth Guild Hall
27 Bath Forum
28 Brighton Dome
29 Birmingham Symphony Hall
31 Cambridge Corn Exchange SOLD OUT
NOVEMBER
01 London Palladium
02 Coventry WAC
04 Manchester Opera House
09 Edinburgh Playhouse SOLD OUT
10 Edinburgh Playhouse SOLD OUT
15 Dunfermline Alhambra SOLD OUT
16 Glasgow Academy SOLD OUT
17 Glasgow Academy SOLD OUT
22 Perth Concert Hall SOLD OUT
23 Inverness Leisure Centre SOLD OUT
24 Aberdeen BHGE Arena SOLD OUT
29 Ipswich Regents Theatre
30 Basingstoke Anvil SOLD OUT
DECEMBER
01 Hastings White Rock
07 Belfast Ulster Hall SOLD OUT
08 Dublin Vicar Street SOLD OUT
13 Motherwell Town Hall SOLD OUT
14 Stirling Albert Hall SOLD OUT
15 Dundee Caird Hall SOLD OUT
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Feature by Mike Ainscoe. You can find more of Mike’s writing on Louder Than War at his author’s archive. He can be found on Facebook and his website is www.michaelainscoephotography.co.uk