Pitchfork: Charlatans UK Prepare New Album, European Tour

Charlatans UK Prepare New Album, European Tour
Cher UK promo forgotten under pile of 1994 advance cassettes

When their debut album, Some Friendly, dropped in the early 90s, The Charlatans' were generally considered an afterthought to the Stone Roses- and Happy Mondays-dominated Madchester scene. But guess who's laughin' now: Over the past 15 years, The Charlatans have stayed their course, and show no signs of slowing down. In 2004, the band are preparing to release their eighth full-length (not including the assorted greatest hits compilations, or live and b-sides collections), their first since 2001's Wonderland. The new album, titled Up at the Lake, is slated for a summer release. Tracklist:

01 Up at the Lake
02 Feel the Pressure
03 As I Watch You In Disbelief
04 Cry Yourself To Sleep
05 Bona Fide Treasure
06 High In Your Tree
07 Blue For You
08 I'll Sing a Hymn (You Came To Me) [UK and Japanese versions only]
09 Loving You Is Easy
10 Try Again Today
11 Apples and Oranges
12 Dead Love

Speaking about the record, bassist Mark Blunt explained to NME, "It's a very stripped down sound. The songs are very haunting and stick with you. Back in December during some of the nights when we were in full recording it did remind me of Lost Highway by David Lynch... All I can say now is it sounds like The Charlatans, it really does." Which is promising, given that some of the band's previous albums just sounded like Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Dates:

05-23 Aberdeen, Scotland - Aberdeen Music Hall
05-24 Glasgow, Scotland - Glasgow Academy
05-27 Manchester, England - Apollo
05-29 Liverpool, England - Liverpool University
05-31 Liverpool, England - Leicester De Montford Hall
06-01 Nottingham, England - Rock City
06-03 Folkestone, England - Leas Cliff Hall
06-04 London, England - Hammersmith Carling Apollo
06-05 Brighton, England - Dome
06-06 Bristol, England - Bristol Academy
06-08 Newcastle, England - Northumbria University
06-09 Doncaster, England - Dome
06-10 Birmingham, England - Birmingham Academy
06-11 Newport, England - Newport Centre