Pitchfork: Malcolm Middleton LP to get U.S. Release

Malcolm Middleton LP to get U.S. Release

While Malcolm Middleton's opening solo gambit, 5:14 Fluoxytine Seagull Alcohol John Nicotine, was peppered with the anguished lullabies we would expect from the blonder half of Arab Strap, his latest, Into the Woods is the same wonderfully woeful experience, but with some unexpected shifts in direction. No bum steers of course, mind you. Would you believe the surprising presence of sheer pop and positive vibes? Seriously! Naturally, you can't keep a good miser down, and so we are treated regularly to tales with enough snark and sneer to soothe the cynic-beast in all of us. Who the hell else could orchestrate a pulsating beat-driven song that contains the lines "Woke up again today/ Realized I hate myself" over and over?

The aural assault that is is getting its U.S. release on August 16 through the American arm of their UK label, Chemikal Underground. Guest players include non-too-surprising members of the Scottish music intelligencia: Stuart Braithwaite and Barry Burns of Mogwai, drummer Paul Savage and sometime keyboardist Alan Barr, ex- of the Delgados, the Reindeer Section's Jenny Reeve, as well as Middleton's regular partner in Arab Strap, Aidan Moffat. The album is already adored overseas and will contain the same tracklist as its UK counterpart. That tracklist in full:

01 Break My Heart
02 Devastation
03 Loneliness Shines
04 No Modest Bear
05 Monday Night Nothing
06 Bear With Me
07 A Happy Medium
08 Autumn
09 Burst Noel
10 Choir
11 Solemn Thirsty
12 A New Heart

On the UK front, Middleton will be releasing the double A-side 7" single "Break My Heart/A New Heart" on September 12 also through Chemikal Underground. The single tacks on the extra B-side smile "A Morning Shite (Solo #6)". While no North American dates have been announced as yet, there are oodles of UK and Euro dates confirmed that will keep the performer on the road throughout parts of the next few months.

08-11 London, England - The Borderline
08-12 Leicester, England - Summer Sundae Weekender Festival
08-13 Glasgow, Scotland - King Tut's Wah Wah Hut
08-14 Newcastle, England - Cluny
08-17 Edinburgh, Scotland - Cabaret Voltaire
08-20 Hay-on-Wye, Wales - Green Man Festival
08-26 Dunfermline, Scotland - Carnegie Hall
08-30 Gothenburg, Sweden - Pusterviksbaren
08-31 Stockholm, Sweden - Kulturhuset
09-01 Oslo, Norway - John Dee
09-02 Bergen, Norway - Garage
09-03 Stavanger, Norway - Club Folken
09-06 Belfast, Northen Ireland - Auntie Annie's
09-07 Galway, Ireland - Roisin Dubh
09-08 Cork, Ireland - Cyprus Ave
09-16 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
09-18 Berlin, Germany - Roter Salon
09-19 Hamburg, Germany - Logo
09-20 Cologne, Germany - Gebause 9
09-21 Heidelberg, Germany - Karlstorbahnhof
09-22 Freiberg, Germany - Fri-son
09-30 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Rotterdam Theatre
10-03 London, England - Barfly #
10-04 Cardiff, Wales - Barfly #
10-05 York, England - Barfly #
10-06 Liverpool, England - Barfly #
10-09 Glasgow, Scotland - Barfly #