Tim Burgess often seems to be the busiest musician in the industry. Just four months after the release of his sixth solo album I Love The New Sky, The Charlatans frontman has announced his latest project, a new EP called Ascent Of The Ascended. Oh, and basically every single night since the start of lockdown he has facilitated at least one of Tim’s Twitter Listening Parties.
Burgess announced Ascent Of The Ascended yesterday (September 23), with the premiere of new song, and second track on the EP, ‘Yours. To Be’ on Lauren Laverne’s Radio 6 show. Ascent Of The Ascended will be out via Bella Union (Burgess’ label since I Love The New Sky) on November 27. You can listen to ‘Yours. To Be’ below.
When asked to describe his newest song, Burgess explained, “It’s all about making the most of moments as they are happening. At the tail end of the glory of the night before – with all the hope and beauty that the following morning brings. Away from the glare of the party – like the calm after the storm has left town.”
In addition to the new single, we can expect one other new offering from Burgess, title track ‘The Ascent Of The Ascended’. In addition, there are four tracks recorded live in New York for a session with Paste Magazine, back in March. Three of these are from I Love The New Sky, including the album’s second single ‘Laurie’ which – in my view – is a great example of a perfectly formed song. Burgess has also rerecorded the Charlatans classic ‘The Only One I Know’, the baggy single which changed everything for a young Madchester band.
In a press release, Burgess spoke the electricity of his time in the studio, and how I Love The New Sky spilled over into an additional EP – even though the album released earlier this year sounds like Burgess threw everything he had at one, idiosyncratic, multifaceted full length LP. “There was an energy that came from recording the album with such a brilliant band – I didn’t want it to end, I wanted to record a bit of a magnum opus, which is where Ascent of the Ascended came in.
“I’d always wanted to work with Charles Hayward from This Heat, so we have him a ring and he said yeah. With “Yours. To Be” being almost like an instant feeling you get in a moment, very rarely in your life – the two songs are so different but they somehow complement each other. So an EP was the perfect idea.”
— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) September 23, 2020
Listing all of the projects that Burgess has hinted at recently would take longer than we’ve got. He is at the very core of a number of initiatives that have worked to keep people united through music during a period of self-isolation. A little later, Burgess lent his energy to a number of projects to save the music industry itself from the effects of lockdown; notably, he was behind the campaign to save Manchester’s venues, Gorilla and Deaf Institute.
There are still Listening Parties every night of the week – the number recently surpassed 450. Burgess has been hinting at “Gorilla TV“, but for now, the particular details are a tantalising secret. He is involved in the Soho Radio Raffle; he performed a straight-to-vinyl session there recently, and its up for grabs as a raffle prize. Eventually, you’ll be able to catch him live – see here for more details. Ultimately, Burgess is living and breathing music every day – and his commitment is infectious.
Ascent Of The Ascended tracklist:
1. ‘The Ascent Of The Ascended’
2. ‘Yours. To Be’
3. ‘Laurie’ (Paste Session)
4. ‘The Mall’ (Paste Session)
5. ‘The Only One I Know’ (Paste Session)
6. ‘Undertow’ (Paste Session)
