Today, SPEARMINT release their remarkable new album: ‘Holland Park’. STREAM IN FULL ON ALL SERVICES HERE
The London band’s ninth studio album, as well as the 57th release on their own hitBACK label, the record is the keenly anticipated follow-up to 2019’s ‘Are You From The Future?’ record. A record that ultimately explores what it’s like to be in a band, what it’s like to have walked away from being in a band, what music means to all of us, and how it feels to lose your heroes (Bowie especially); ‘Holland Park’ is guaranteed to strike a chord with Spearmint fans old and new.
xpressing their delight in releasing ‘Holland Park’ today, singer Shirley Lee says: “This album is a bit of a gift for us. Sometimes, by the time an album actually comes out, we are just focussed on its flaws, but we still love this one. And we’re really enjoying the conversations that it’s starting, about music in Britain in the early 70s, and about what it’s like to be in a band, and then to not be in a band.”
‘Holland Park’ is available on CD, digitally, and vinyl (a highly unusual double 10-inch format) from today (17th September).
“We always liked 10-inches, like ‘Slates’ by the Fall or ‘Super Black Market Clash’… and the original double-EP version of ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ was really cool. This album is a cross between the two – a double gatefold 10-inch. So, it’s effectively two mini-albums, or a good way of putting out a long single album, better than those occasional three-sided LPs, or really ‘groove-crammed’ long-albums that people tried. We’re in love with this format, so we may do more like this. The other thing we’re emphasising is that it’s on black vinyl – I mean, coloured vinyl is fun, but it’s black vinyl that we adore. There’s even a track on the album about it.” adds Shirley.
With contributions from Rhodri Marsden (Scritti Politti, who also produced) and Andy Lewis (Paul Weller), the album featured the superlative singles including “Walk Away From Hollywood”, “Bundunyabba Blue”, plus the touching “Since Bowie Died”. With all of the singles available on 7” vinyl with exclusive B-sides; fans can also expect another single from the album in November, which will also include a brand-new Christmas song. Stay tuned...
Spearmint will also be touring ‘Holland Park’ with a series of UK shows in 2022, dates and details to be revealed very soon. Often referred to as ‘Britain’s best kept secret’, Spearmint are: Shirley Lee (singing, guitar), Simon Calnan (singing, keyboards), James Parsons (guitar, bass) and Ronan Larvor (drums). Their wonderful new album, ‘Holland Park’ is out now.
SPEARMINT - ‘HOLLAND PARK’ IS RELEASED TODAY, 17TH SEPTEMBER