Singer-songwriter Matt Johnson is joined by long-standing THE THE members James Eller (bass), DC Collard (keyboards), Earl Harvin (drums), and Barrie Cadogan (lead guitar). The album also marks the return of co- producer and engineer Warne Livesey, who previously worked on landmark THE THE albums Infected (1986) and Mind Bomb (1989). Additional performances include Gillian Glover (backing vocals), Terry Edwards (horns), Sonya Cullingford (fiddle) and Danny Cummings (percussion).
TRACK LISTING
1. Cognitive Dissident
2. Some Days I Drink My Coffee By The Grave Of William Blake
3. Zen & The Art Of Dating
4. Kissing The Ring Of POTUS
5. Life After Life
6. I Want To Wake Up With You
7. Down By The Frozen River
8. Risin’ Above The Need
9. Linoleum Smooth To The Stockinged Foot
10. Where Do We Go When We Die?
11. I Hope You Remember (the things I can’t forget)
12. A Rainy Day In May
“A brilliant record”
– HMV (voted one of the top albums of 2024)
“Johnson’s most politically charged songs since the 80s”
– The Guardian
“A beautiful and gentle record”
– The Independent
“Johnson has lost none of his sly, devilish charm.”
– SPIN Magazine
“These 12 songs cement Johnson’s “cherishable agitator” status”
– Mojo
“After almost a quarter of a century, it is here…it is worth the wait”
– Record Collector
“Ensoulment is a delight”
– The Times
”Dazzling, eccentric, thoughtful”
– Forbes
“Johnson’s stark yet poetic lyrics have a knack of enlightening the listener like a therapist. This is food for the soul.”
– Sunday Express
“Matt Johnson once again shines as a cautionary chronicler.”
– Rolling Stone Germany
“There’s a gravelly, mature post/punk bluesiness about The The in 2024. Some of the blackness of Johnny Cash ”
– Classic Rock
“A record that fits into his impeccable canon seamlessly”
– Line Of Best Fit
“What a gloriously exciting return it is. THE THE delivers another spectacular album.”
– Spill Magazine
“When he goes political Johnson is still ready to slide in studs up”
– The Irish Times
“Johnson remains charismatic and unabashedly outspoken as he takes an unflinching look at big-picture topics such as life and death, war and politics, love and sex, and plenty in between.”
– FLOOD Magazine
“The other bard of Stratford….a striking return”
– Vive Le Rock!
“THE THE’s first album in a quarter century arrives like magic; an eerie sound rises from the speakers like an unexpected plume of colored smoke and soon materializes, fully formed, like a genie from a bottle.”
– Brooklyn Vegan
“an ominous assessment of greed, romance, and existentialism in the modern age.”
– Boston Globe
