Acid-spiked tour stories told by Michael Head on new single: 'Ambrosia'
Snow-capped Alps, a lost tour manager and a band on the run. Memories rush back for Michael Head on latest single…
With the autobiographical album, Loophole, on the way, Head goes back to the narcotic mid-noughties Shack days in a wistful tale of band-led abandon
Already touring with his Red Elastic Band through May, Head has also announced a run of intimate acoustic dates and meet-and-greets remaining Tickets On Sale Now www.michaelheadofficial.com
Ciao Ciao Bambino: A Magical Memoir by Michael Head Published in hardback, audio and eBook Nine Eight Books - Thu 15 August 2024
A wild trip across the Italian Alps as thrusting musicians on the ride of a lifetime is told in measured, later-life tempo by Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band on Ambrosia, the latest single to be lifted from The Pale Fountains and Shack legend’s upcoming, third solo album. Evocative, clear-eyed and with picture-perfect lyrical reflection, characters from Head’s former life come rushing into the present as the Bill Ryder-Jones-produced, Loophole, released on Fri 3 May 2024 on Modern Sky, gives up one of its most gleaming gems.
Slow waltzing through memories as if only yesterday, Ambrosia's deceptively calm and collected tour story, starting in Glasgow and taking a ‘walk through the privets’ before heading into Europe in the enlightened grip of cheap acid, sets the listener alongside Head and his Shack bandmates in the back of the van in the mid-noughties. With every second and every line wrapped in warmth for those that came along for the ride and a sense of nostalgic pride, Ambrosia is Head’s loving hymn to Shack and loose, unshackled days of love and chaos left behind.
Head says: “’Ambrosia’ was written when I was reminiscing about the days playing and touring with Shack. Some of the members, Iain Templeton, Pete Wilkinson, our John and the tour manager, Eastie and I are all mentioned. Tripping off our heads, we left Eastie outside a pizzeria in Italy and had to go back to rescue him! Iain passed away halfway through writing the song. Bill’s production really captures the essence of the story.”
Shack, Head’s second band after The Pale Fountains split in 1987, was originally formed of the singer-songwriter and his brother, John Head on guitars, joined by Pete Wilkinson on bass and Mick Hurst on drums. Still centred on the brothers but with a rolling, supporting cast thereafter, the band released ‘lost classic’ albums, Zilch (1988), Waterpistol (1995), HMS Fable (1999) and Here’s Tom With The Weather (2003) before an extended hiatus kicked in in 2008.
Promising an album that skimmed stones over his past, not only as a feted musician blessed with as many well-documented lows as uncontested highs, but as a fixture in off-centre British culture for five decades, much of Loophole was written and recorded at the same time as Head was considering the chapters of his life for an upcoming autobiography. Readying the book, titled Ciao Ciao Bambino: A Magical Memoir for publication by Nine Eight Books on Thu 15 August 2024, the stories told in Ambrosia and previous singles, Ciao Ciao Bambino, Connemara and Shirl’s Ghost, came rushing to mind as prose and then, inevitably, fell into place as lyrics.
Ready to perform songs from Loophole alongside tracks from his highest charting, 2022 album Dear Scott, plus fan-favourites from the back catalogues of The Pale Fountains, Shack and The Strands, Head and his band prepare for seven UK Tour dates, opening in Glasgow in early May. December brings another career and lifetime landmark for Head as he gathers friends and fans for an unmissable night at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.
Recently announcing a run of intimate acoustic performances and the opportunity for fans to pick up a signed, limited-edition Loophole artwork, the full run of current Michael Head live dates for 2024 are as follows:
Sun 31 Mar – London, Rough Trade East*
Wed 3 Apr – Sheffield, HMV Sheffield*
Thu 4 Apr - Birmingham – HMV, The Vault*
Mon 8 Apr - Brighton, Resident*
Sat 13 Apr - Liverpool, Jacaranda Baltic*
Sun 14 Apr - Manchester, Piccadilly Records*
Mon 15 Apr - Nottingham, Rough Trade Nottingham*
Wed 24 Apr - Glasgow, Assai*
Thu 2 May – Glasgow, Mackintosh Church
Fri 3 May – Newcastle, Gosforth Civic Theatre
Sat 4 May – Leeds, City Varieties
Wed 8 May – Brighton, CHALK
Thu 9 May – London, Earth Theatre
Fri 10 May – Manchester, Gorilla
Fri 13 Dec – Liverpool, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
*Acoustic set and signing
Remaining tickets are available now via booking links available at www.michaelheadofficial.com
Loophole was recorded at YAWN Studios in West Kirby in the company of Ryder-Jones, and features all of The Red Elastic Band’s gifted musicians, Phil Murphy (drums), Tom Powell (bass), Nathaniel Cummings (guitars/backing vocals) and Martin Smith (trumpet).
For information on upcoming releases, live dates and other news, connect with Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band online at:
www.facebook.com/redelastic
www. twitter.com/michaelheadtreb
www.instagram.com/officialmichaelhead
