The The - Ensoulment

 

Gatefold double LP plus 32-page booklet

The The's first studio album of new songs in a quarter century!

The The, one of the most acclaimed and cherished bands of the last few decades, have announced details of the release of Ensoulment, their first studio album of new songs in a quarter century.

The 12 songs on Ensoulment encompasses characteristic topics ranging from love and sex, war and politics, life and death — to the meaning of what it is to be human in the 21st century. Ensoulment was written, demoed and mixed at Studio Cinéola in London, the base of The The's main creative force, singer-songwriter Matt Johnson.

Johnson is joined by long-standing The The members James Eller (bass), DC Collard (keyboards), Earl Harvin (drums), and Barrie Cadogan (lead guitar). The album also marks the return of co-producer and engineer Warne Livesey, who previously worked on landmark The The albums Infected (1986) and Mind Bomb (1989). Additional performances include Gillian Glover (backing vocals), Terry Edwards (horns), Sonya Cullingford (fiddle) and Danny Cummings (percussion).

Throughout the years, The The's releases have developed a distinct aesthetic style, which in no small part owes to the artwork of Matt Johnson's late brother Andrew (AKA artist Andy Dog). Ensoulment proudly features some of Andrew's previously unpublished works on the cover, in the exquisitely designed 32-page booklet for the vinyl format, as well as on the covers of all singles. "Cognitive Dissident" is the first single from the album, written by Matt Johnson and Barrie Cadogan, produced by Matt Johnson and Warne Livesey, released digitally.

 

Side A

1. Cognitive Dissident

2. Some Days I Drink My Coffee by the Grave of William Blake

3. Zen and the Art of Dating

Side B

1. Kissing the Ring of POTUS

2. Life After Life

3. I Want to Wake Up with You

Side B

1. Down by the Frozen River

2. Risin' Above the Need

3. Linoleum Smooth to the Stockinged Foot

Side D

1. Where Do We Go When We Die?

2. I Hope You Remember (The Things I Can't Forget)

3. A Rainy Day in May

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