Robyn Hitchcock Preps New LP, Covers Beatles
Is said to make brief cameo appearance on each of his records

After spending years being accused of forced bizarreness, Robyn Hitchcock recently self-released the quiet and direct acoustic album Luxor. Fans were split, some wondering whether the exceedingly British songwriter had lost his edge during the brief lull that followed the reunion of his 1970s power-pop band The Soft Boys ("Them nillaz is tha Soft Boys, tha Soft Boys!"). Fact is, you can argue about that shit endlessly-- debating who has or has not sold out is, after all, the second most-popular thing to do on the internet-- but unsurprisingly, even when Hitchcock opened his heart completely, it had lizards, ants and yams inside. Say what you like; the man is to crustaceans what Churchill was to cigars.

Now, after a five-year stretch of Soft Boys records and small-batch, self-released solo albums, Hitchcock has announced plans to release his first kinda big solo record of the new millennium in October. Kinda? Howzat? It seems that SPOOKED!, due out on October 5th via Yep Roc Records, was recorded with the help of NPR-core heroes Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. The duo met Hitchcock after playing a show in London, discovered they were mutual fans, and made nebulous plans about working together that actually ended up working out during an extraordinarily mellow week of recording in Nashville. Says Hitchcock, "Nobody even counted the songs in; we always started playing together, and the tape always seemed to be rolling. It was like a child's drawing of a recording session." Indeed, we'll be hanging that sucker on the fridge.

Onstage, Hitchcock has a habit of sharing space with people like Peter Buck and Billy Bragg, but this marks his first full-length studio thang with other acclaimed songwriters. Aside from one track played live by the Soft Boys ("If You Know Time"), few of the songs on SPOOKED! have appeared in Hitchcock's frequent live sets. Tracklist:

01 Television
02 If You Know Time
03 Everybody Needs Love
04 English Girl
05 Demons and Fiends
06 Creeped Out
07 Sometimes A Blonde
08 We're Gonna Live In The Trees
09 Tryin' To Get To Heaven (Bob Dylan)
10 Full Moon In My Soul
11 Welcome To Earth
12 Flanagan's Song

Hitchcock's eerie charisma is also on display, albeit briefly, in a bit part in Jonathan Demme's new remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Demme directed the 1998 concert film Storefront Hitchcock, which featured Hitchcock in a storefront. No joke. In addition to a date in Spain and a performance at the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, Hitchcock-- along with backing group Heavy Friends-- will also be performing the Beatles' White Album in its entirety for two London performances in August, the proceeds of which will be put toward Doctors Without Borders/Mèdecins Sans Frontiëres. Dates:

08-07 London, England - 3 Kings (White Album cover show)
08-08 London, England - 3 Kings (White Album cover show)
08-13 Sos del Rey Catolico, Spain - Plaza de La Lonja
09-04 Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival