Barry Adamson Announces Series Of 2022 Reissues

BARRY ADAMSON   ANNOUNCES A SERIES OF 2022 REISSUES   OEDIPUS SCHMOEDIPUS, STRANGER ON THE SOFA, BACK TO THE CAT, I WILL SET YOU FREE, AND KNOW WHERE TO RUN

courtesy: Mute

“Adamson can brilliantly—and without words—suggest entire movie scenes with dizzying combinations of dance beats, jazz phrases, finger-snapping big-band arrangements, luscious strings and even references to '60s French pop." – Rolling Stone [Oedipus Schmoedipus]   “…swinging through dark pop, atmospheric instrumentals, and demented circus music... unique with great personality" – Pitchfork [Stranger on the Sofa]   “… leaps from John Barry to big band Bowie” – Uncut [Back to the Cat]   “Barry Adamson well deserves his reputation as an enigmatic renaissance man of noir pop” – Record Collector [I Will Set You Free]   “Inventive, swinging, dud-free and very musical” – MOJO [Know Where To Run] Musician, composer, writer, photographer, and filmmaker BARRY ADAMSON today announces details of a series of long out of print catalog releases on Mute starting with the white vinyl edition of his 1996 album, Oedipus Schmoedipus, out July 29 and limited to 1000 copies.   Oedipus Schmoedipus features collaborations with Nick Cave, The Associates’ Billy Mackenzie and Jarvis Cocker. Listen to a new edit of “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Pelvis” featuring Cocker’s inimitable vocals here.   Talking about how the collaboration came out, Barry Adamson explained, “I used to see the founder of Rough Trade, Geoff Travis, on the school run and got a draft of the song to Jarvis via him along with the title and ideas. Both Jarvis and Geoff came into the Mute studio on Harrow Road the day ‘Common People’ went to number one and their car was hilariously mobbed. The session went real smooth and he had his rambunctious vocal nailed pretty fast.”   The reissue series continues on September 23 with the first-ever vinyl pressing of the Stranger on the Sofa album (2006) – available as a double red vinyl edition – and Back to the Cat (2008) on clear vinyl. Both were originally released on Adamson’s own Central Control label. Also available on the 23rd is a strictly limited edition (1000 copies) antique blue vinyl issue of 2021’s Steal Away EP containing new songs. This was previously released digitally on Mute alongside Adamson’s acclaimed memoir.   On December 2 I Will Set You Free (2012) and Know Where To Run (2016) get the reissue treatment on curacao and silver vinyl respectively before Mute continues the series, reissuing Adamson’s entire catalog.   Pre-order the reissues here.   On Stranger on the Sofa, Adamson embraced the DIY aesthetic going back to his late ‘70s roots when he played bass with art-punk legends Magazine. Across the album, he presents myriad timeless genres with an intuition that Adamson has worked tirelessly throughout his solo career since his era defining debut, Moss Side Story (1988).   Back to the Cat, Adamson’s eighth studio album, is a bold musical odyssey through noir jazz, sun-drenched pop ballads, fractious urban funk, devilish gospel, heavenly blues, and subversive soul with a Hammond organ salute to the late, great Jimmy Smith. With his trademark wicked sense of humor and beady eye for detail, he charts the complexity and duplicity of human nature, often deliberately contrasting stories with sounds.  Currently working on a new album, Barry Adamson published the first part of his memoir Up Above the City, Down Beneath the Stars (Omnibus Press) in 2021. It is described by MOJO as “compellingly honest and evocative” and by The Wire as a “fascinating and painfully candid memoir.”        MORE ABOUT BARRY ADAMSON Adamson has been creating all of his life. Brought up in Manchester’s Moss Side, Adamson learned to play the bass overnight for Magazine. When they disbanded, five albums later in 1981, his singular style was spotted by The Birthday Party, with whom he played several times.   His establishment as a solo artist came after a three-year stint in Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds with the release of his classic first solo album, Moss Side Story, the ultimate soundtrack to an “imaginary film.” The album raised Adamson’s name as a composer of diverse complexity who is able to tell a story with music where the images were those supplanted in the minds of the listeners. Adamson has worked with some of the film industry’s most intriguing mavericks including Derek Jarman (The Last of England, 1987), David Lynch (The Lost Highway, 1997), Oliver Stone (Natural Born Killers, 1994) and Danny Boyle (The Beach, 2000).   Having released nine studio albums, including the 1992 Mercury Music Prize nominated Soul Murder, 1996’s Oedipus Schmoedipus, and his most recent release, Know Where To Run – which was in part inspired by a recent US tour playing with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds after 23 years – Adamson’s talents are in as much demand by new generations of artists as he was after his first solo release. Collaborations in recent years across a variety of art forms include an Olivier Award winning ballet performance by Sylvie Guillem and the Ballet Boyz scored by Adamson. Two EP releases, Love Sick Dick and Love Sick Dick Remixed, followed the Know Where To Run album with the latter featuring a BBC 6Music playlisted reworking by A Certain Ratio as well as remixes from Gazelle Twin and ADULT. In 2018 Mute released Memento Mori (2018), a compilation celebrating 40 years of Adamson’s career, followed soon after by the Steal Away EP.   Pre-order the reissues Listen to “Set Controls for the Heart of the Pelvis” BARRY ADAMSON: FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC | BANDCAMP   MUTE: WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM