UK Music Legends The Pretty Things Share New Single “Bright As Blood”

New Album ‘Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood’ Due September 25th

Credit: Judy Totton

The Pretty Things have shared new single “Bright As Blood” from their upcoming album ‘Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood’ out on the 25th September through Madfish Music.

Taken from the new, entirely acoustic album, which the band had been working on right up until the sudden and tragic passing of Phil May in May 2020. The band, led by guitarist Dick Taylor, is sharing this new music in tribute to their iconic, fearless and trailblazing front man.

New single “Bright As Blood” see’s Phil May and Dick Taylor embrace moving new folk,  Americana and bluegrass overtones, coupled with Jon Wigg’s rootsy fiddle and Sam Brother’s hillbilly banjo that sit alongside writer, George Woosey’s hypnotic, driving guitar and a vocal performance from May that is as open and vulnerable as we ever heard from him.

Dick Taylor, The Pretty Things 
“Bright As Blood” was written by the band’s long-time bass player – George Woosey – and it’s typical of his incredible work, it captures his fascination with Roots and Americana music perfectly and was a perfect fit with the album and even gave us our title…”

Listen to new single ‘Bright As Blood’ here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdu0xW8Y2Ec&feature=youtu.be)
The new single will be available on all streaming platforms from Friday 7th August

‘Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood’ is the culmination of the work the band had been doing, following lengthy discussions about whether they could actually create meaningful new music in a stripped back, acoustic-driven format following their retirement from electric performances on health grounds that saw them bow out with an incredible three hour, sold-out performance at The 02 Indigo in London in December 2018 with guests David Gilmour and Van Morrison.

Deciding that they could, Phil May and Dick Taylor, together with long time manager and producer Mark St. John, began work on this new album, their first in an entirely acoustic format and set about laying the foundation of what The Pretty Things would be next.

The new album, the product of these sessions, is the sound of authenticity, hard experience and the pain and longing of two artists in the unknown territory of old age. The sound of two long, long lives, lived in art and music that have always lived at the cutting edge, and that have always worked as they did at the very start, in their teenage years, with absolute honesty and total integrity…

The new album ‘Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood’ will be released on CD, gatefold 2xLP on red vinyl and digitally and is available to pre-order now. (https://theprettythings.lnk.to/BareAsBoldBrightAsBlood)

Track listing:
1. Can`t Be Satisfied [03:04]
2. Come Into My Kitchen [04:17]
3. Ain`t No Grave [03:58]
4. Faultline [04:22]
5. Redemption Day [05:22]
6. The Devil Had A Hold Of Me [04:16]
7. Bright As Blood [04:44]
8. Love In Vain [04:17]
9. Black Girl [02:37]
10. To Build A Wall [04:25]
11. Another World [03:56]
Bonus Track:
I`m Ready [03:43]

Press Quotes:
“Mr. May’s snarling vocals and rebellious persona helped make his band, the Pretty Things, an influential part of the 1960s British scene.” – The New York Times

“The man David Bowie listed as God in his address book stuck two fingers up at rules about music, sex and life itself – and made the most glorious noise doing it” – The Guardian

“May’s yowling vocals, were as ferociously potent as anything recorded during the 1960s British beat boom.” – The Times

“Although the Pretty Things did not achieve the fame of many of their peers in the UK rock scene, they were beloved by musicians, including Aerosmith and, most famously, David Bowie” – Pitchfork

Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Pretty-Things-115515605226
Website: http://www.theprettythings.com/
Label: https://www.madfishmusic.com/

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (USA), glassonyonpr@gmail.com

For Immediate Release

UK Music Legends The Pretty Things Announce New Album “Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood” – The Final Recordings Of Phil May and Dick Taylor

photo credit: Judy Totton

Cult British band The Pretty Things have announced their new album “Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood” will be released on 25th September via Madfish Music. Please see below for a comment from the band’s management and the full album press release.

Mark St John, Manager of The Pretty Things:

On May the 15th 2020, Phil May, the lead singer with “The Pretty Things” died…. Despite his well-documented ill-health, his death was unexpected and resulted from a tragic accident and not his embedded health condition. His is a catastrophic loss and has been felt and acknowledged across the world of music and the arts.

At the time of his death, he was hugely excited and enthused about the impending release of the first-ever, all-acoustic “Pretty Things” album, which had been completed before his death.

I wrote the press release below, on the 5th May, just nine days before he died. We have left it unchanged – it remains as relevant to the record – and particularly to Phil and his connection to it, as it was while he was still alive and looking forward to performing these dark songs live and walking a new tightrope of performance…..

They will now never be heard live with Phil’s voice, and maybe never at all, but that does not diminish this remarkable record which will stand as a final tribute to one of the most significant artists of his generation, and beyond.

photo credit Mark St John

THE PRETTY THINGS – “BARE AS BONE, BRIGHT AS BLOOD” – THE NEW ALBUM.

On December 13th, 2018, following a sold-out show at London’s O2 Indigo, The Pretty Things retired from live, electric performances, after 55 years of touring and recording, due to the ill-health of lead singer, Phil May.

This was not something that the band, or their fans, wanted, but it was unavoidable, given the circumstances. At the time, there was already a new, electric album well underway, but this was shelved as it was clear that the band would never be able to perform any of these recordings. At the time of the retirement, some sort of return, possibly in a stripped-down, acoustic format was not entirely discounted, but it was not expected, due to the health issues, surrounding Phil May and also to the general lack of appetite that the bands’ two principals – Phil May and Dick Taylor – had always shown for acoustic performance as a mainstay for their work.

However, during 2019 there was a significant sea change in attitude within the band and, early in the year, the band, together with manager and producer, Mark St. John, returned to the studio and took the first, tentative steps toward the making of a new album, this time in an entirely acoustic format. The album – now completed and entitled “Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood” – is a genuine first for a band that has been knocking down the walls with their aggressive and memorable, electric live performances for more than 55 years.

This record has little in common with their past work, save that, like so many “Pretty Things” records and projects, it is wholly unique and an absolute first. Arguably, this record is as ground-breaking as the band’s seminal Rock Opera and psychedelic masterpiece – “S. F. Sorrow” – which is acknowledged as rock music’s first Rock Opera. The levels of inspiration, imagination, originality and musicality displayed are at an equivalent high; in many ways, perhaps, because the whole record is a totally exposed, stripped down, acoustic project, principally featuring only the two band members. For them, this was an arduous and unfamiliar task, relying solely on their fundamental talents and undertaken without the support, comfort and benefit of the thundering band that had underpinned their work for so many years.

This is work stripped bare and reflects the frailties and insecurities of gathering age, ill health, painful failure and memorable success. It is a reflection on two long, long lives in art and music that have always been at the cutting edge, and that have always worked as they did at the very start, in their teenage years. “Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood” does not allow for that luxury. This is not a pair of old rockers, still the oldest swingers in town. This is the work of two, old men, who are acting their age, maybe for the first time ever. If their health and energy is depleted, their skill, insight and experience is not, with the result that they have made a remarkable, exciting, unexpected and thought-provoking record, that is, against all the odds, another singular “first” for The Pretty Things.

It was a very sad day when we said an enforced goodbye to the astounding electric band that was The Pretty Things in December 2018. It is a very happy day to see them back, finally as the old men they truly are, and finally comfortable to release the young men that, for such a long, long time, they were. “Bare as Bone, Bright as Blood” – the remarkable and unexpected new album by The Pretty Things, still the tainted, dark royalty, banished from the rock establishment.

“Bare As Bone, Bright As Blood” will be released on CD, gatefold 2xLP on red vinyl and digitally and is available to pre-order now. (https://theprettythings.lnk.to/BareAsBoldBrightAsBlood)

The first singles to be taken from the new album are the double A-side of “The Devil Had A Hold On Me” & “To Build A Wall” and are available to stream now. (https://open.spotify.com/album/57gCumw0Pj2ih9ALzfa8Sc?si=2hoAw1IeTsShEG0BpMoIAw)

Track listing:
1. Can`t Be Satisfied [03:04]
2. Come Into My Kitchen [04:17]
3. Ain`t No Grave [03:58]
4. Faultline [04:22]
5. Redemption Day [05:22]
6. The Devil Had A Hold Of Me [04:16]
7. Bright As Blood [04:44]
8. Love In Vain[04:17]
9. Black Girl [02:37]
10. To Build A Wall[04:25]
11. Another World [03:56]
Bonus Track:
I`m Ready [03:43]

Press Quotes:

“Mr. May’s snarling vocals and rebellious persona helped make his band, the Pretty Things, an influential part of the 1960s British scene.” – The New York Times

“The man David Bowie listed as God in his address book stuck two fingers up at rules about music, sex and life itself – and made the most glorious noise doing it” – The Guardian

“May’s yowling vocals were as ferociously potent as anything recorded during the 1960s British beat boom.” – The Times

“Although the Pretty Things did not achieve the fame of many of their peers in the UK rock scene, they were beloved by musicians, including Aerosmith and, most famously, David Bowie” – Pitchfork

Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Pretty-Things-115515605226
Website: http://www.theprettythings.com/
Label: https://www.madfishmusic.com/
For more hi-res images : www.madfishmusic.com/media/theprettythings

Press inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 1-828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com

For Immediate Release

The Pretty Things Retire From Electric Performances By The End Of 2018

After 55 years of performing, The Pretty Things – the iconic, 1st wave, R&B cult heroes, formed by Ex Rolling Stone Dick Taylor, and singer, Phil May, will retire from electric performances at the end of this year.

Serial under-achievers, and the greatest band you have never heard of, The Pretty Things have been a massive success and a huge influence on artists as diverse as David Bowie, Aerosmith, The Ramones, Bob Dylan, The Sex Pistols, The White Stripes, Kasabian and many, many more. All who site the band’s outrageous behaviour, incandescent stage performances and astonishing catalogue of remarkable recordings as fundamental in the creation of their own work.

With a huge catalogue of musical and cultural “firsts” at their core – longest hair in the world, first ever rock and roll drugs bust, most arrests of any band, first ever “garage” single, first ever rock opera, first U.K. band to win Rolling Stone record of the year, arrested for discharging a sawn off shotgun, first band to regain control of its entire recorded catalogue and on and on… they are an indelible part of the fabric of popular music and the social influence that it has created.

Still making significant front-line records and with such influential work including their ground-breaking masterpiece and world’s first rock opera – “S. F. Sorrow” – which celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year, The Pretty Things remain a hugely significant artistic and creative force. With no artist from the 1st wave but The Stones outselling their frontline recordings and probably no artist at all out-performing them.

It should be compulsory for anyone with the slightest interest in popular music and the social revolution of the 1960’s to see The Pretty Things before they retire at the end of this year. They will be back in the groove until that point, hitting every working room on the circuit and finishing up with a huge farewell show in London at the end of the year, with guest appearances from some significant old friends and old school gunslingers to make sure they go out like they came in – with fiery riffs and vocals to boot.

The Pretty Things are waving goodbye. Be there to wave back…

For more information: http://www.madfishmusic.com/artists/the-pretty-things/

Official website: http://www.theprettythings.com/

Press inquiries (North America): Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (US), glassonyonpr@gmail.com