Two years after announcing work on a new The The album, Matt Johnson is releasing his first full-band music under that moniker.
Etched one sided 7″ vinyl limited to 2000 copies. THE THE will release their first single in 15 years with ‘You Can’t Stop What’s Coming’. Featuring Matt Johnson’s distinctive vocals and lyrics as well as a stellar cast of musicians. Former THE THE members involved include Zeke Manyika on percussion (Soul Mining / Infected), James Eller on bass (Mind Bomb /Dusk) plus long-time friend and collaborator Johnny Marr on guitar. Also featured are Meja Kullersten (Swedish composer & singer) on backing vocals, Chris Whitten (Johnny Cash, The Waterboys) on drums and Iain Berryman (Florence & The Machine) on keyboards
In January 2015, Johnson told U.K. magazine Uncut that work was underway on the song based The The album since NakedSelf. He said:
“The important thing is getting yourself in the frame of mind for it. Everything else follows from that. Having been away for so long, I have almost forgotten who I used to be. I almost forgot I was a songwriter in the first place, which is a horrible thing to say. But if it all goes to plan, the album will have freshness to it. It’ll be a new start for my career.”
No other details are yet known about the project.
Following his debut solo album Burning Blue Soul in 1981, Johnson recorded and released six The The studio albums between 1983 and 2000, and recorded several others — including The Pornography of Despair and Gun Sluts — that were never released.
The Fat Angel Sings 