THE THE have today digitally released ‘Linoleum Smooth To The Stockinged Foot’ as well as an accompanying music video by Tim Pope. This is the 2ndsingle from Ensoulment, THE THE’s long-awaited new studio album out on Cinéola / earMUSIC on Friday 6th September 2024, co-produced by Matt Johnson and Warne Livesey.
The lyrics for ‘Linoleum Smooth To The Stockinged Foot’ were written from Matt Johnson’s hospital bed, under the influence of morphine whilst recovering from a life-saving operation. As fate would have it, Johnson’s weeks in hospital had nothing to do with Covid, but occurred at precisely the time Covid reached crisis proportions, making for an even more surreal ordeal.
The discordant interplay between horns and fiddle is redolent of Johnson’s hallucinogenic, surreal experience, which he tried to emulate by asking the musicians to improvise over the track, without hearing the other’s contributions, as he manipulated the sounds in real time.
‘Linoleum Smooth To The Stockinged Foot’ is unique in that it does not feature any of the core band members apart from Johnson on vocals, guitar and bass, plus guest musicians Sonya Cullingford on fiddle, Terry Edwards on horns, Gillian Glover providing backing vocals, and hand claps from percussionist Danny Cummings.
The new music video for ‘Linoleum Smooth To The Stockinged Foot’ was made in conjunction with long-time collaborators: directed by Tim Pope with editing by Vicki Bennett (People Like Us) and Peter Knight. Anya Krasnikova was the Director of Photography.
As with the music itself, the film-makers tried to capture the claustrophobic, hallucinogenic state that lies at the root of this song.
Be sure to subscribe to THE THE’s Official YouTube Channel, which boasts a superlative collection of fantastic material from music videos to interviews to live performances, spanning over decades.
Additionally, the single cover features a previously unpublished work of Matt Johnson’s late brother Andrew (AKA artist Andy Dog) who, over the years, was very much responsible for the distinctive aesthetic style of THE THE’s releases.
Available as a limited 7” vinyl on Friday 2nd August.
Listen to or buy your copy on vinyl HERE.