London-based independent powerhouse punk/rock label Xtra Mile Recordings and Skinny Lister are excited to present ‘Song From The Yonder’, the latest single to be lifted from the Friday, May 9th release of ‘Songs From The Yonder,’ the English folk-punk quintet’s forthcoming studio album.
Set to a score of swaying Celtic arrangements that lift and lilt the listener along their journey, ‘Songs From The Yonder’ acts as an open and earnest conversation between a couple about love, life and longing. Channeling the communal spirit of the folk clubs the band would frequent during their formative years where all of the musicians in the house would pile in to create a wall of sound, ‘Songs From The Yonder’ slots seamlessly within the Skinny Lister canon, a pensive number teeming with themes of seafaring, traveling and drinking.
“‘Song From The Yonder’ is a proper conversational duet, a song about longing and returning from distant travels to where the heart is,” frontman Dan Heptinstall says. “It’s also a song about looking beyond petty disagreements, putting things in perspective and embracing the things that connect us.” He adds, “We’ve not properly explored this dueling vocal approach since ‘George’s Glass’ from our album ‘Down On Deptford Broadway’, and it was a lot of fun to return to writing and recording a track with this kind of dynamic. It’s also a good companion to a track like ‘Six Whiskies’, with its ‘end of the night’ ‘drunken waltz’ feel.”
Picking up where the acclaimed ‘Shanty Punk’ left off, Skinny Lister’s seventh studio album, ‘Songs From The Yonder’, finds the band reveling in their nostalgic touchstones, while facing the future with a wide-eyed sense of optimism and a warming reverence for what has been. With plenty of harks back to their folk roots — and some more tender touches, too — longstanding fans will be enamored to hear that those classic Skinny themes of drinking, travelling, the sea and ploughing on in the face of adversity are still hoisted high on the band’s flagpole throughout this latest outing.
Written and recorded by Skinny Lister, the record was mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Frank Arkwright. Produced and mixed by frontman Dan Heptinstall, its core tracks were recorded live, and left unedited, in an attempt to capture a ferocious live energy. A glorious, riotous mix of chest-thumping anthems, shanty sing-a-longs and folk-punk classics, tempered by a some of the most tender and reflective songs the band have penned yet, ‘Songs From The Yonder’ will be released on May 9th via Xtra Mile Recordings on colored vinyl, CD and digital.
Five extra CD formats of the album are now available from the band’s official site, each featuring bespoke artwork in the style of an old seaside postcard illustrated by John Davison (Cartoons From The Pit) with a different bonus/acoustic track included on each. Fans can buy individually or as a set — a charming and collectable Skinny Lister keepsake.
‘Songs From The Yonder’ tracklist:
01. Yorkshire Belle
02. Set Us Straight
03. Song From The Yonder
04. Plough On
05. Tumbling Into Something
06. Bristol Bound
07. Drinking Song
08. Everything
09. Back Into The Battle
10. Brave The Waves
11. Glass To Our Days
