Jesus Jones have confirmed details of their new album ‘Passages’, due for release in June 2017. ‘Passages’ is the sixth Jesus Jones album and their first since ‘London’ was released back in 2001. Despite never splitting, or quitting touring, the band had a protracted fallow period prompted by individual projects. According to singer and songwriter Mike Edwards “We just didn’t have any support structure, so we drifted a little. We would still play occasional shows but we lacked the impetus to do anything beyond that.”
All of that changed in 2010, when the band made a decision to revive their fortunes. “We had so much fun, every time we played” continues Edwards, “and we just thought if this is fun, why don’t we do more and then we’ll have more fun? It was all quite simple. We wondered why we’d not done it sooner”. The band took charge of their social media, reconnected with their fan-base, cajoled their ex. XFM DJ keyboard player Iain Baker into becoming the band’s new manager, reissued and expanded all of their classic Food Records-era albums and toured the world. They revisited Australia, Japan and New Zealand, and a new commitment to touring saw them play regular UK gigs and festivals. The only thing missing was new material, says Edwards: “That was the last piece of the jigsaw, really. We’d done everything else, we absolutely felt like a proper band again, but we needed new material to underscore it all. Having said that, it’s never as simple as just pulling a new album out of a hat, I had to take it slowly, to convince myself I was still able to produce anything worthwhile!”
In 2016, the first fruits of that new writing process emerged – the first of two EP’s to be released that year. ‘How’s This Even Going Down’ was issued as a limited edition vinyl single, and sold out in a matter of days. That gave the band the shot in the arm they needed, and it was followed by the ‘Suck It Up’ EP last November. Again, another limited edition, and another runaway success. “It’s great to actually see how much people appreciate what you’re doing” says Edwards, “that gives you the impetus to do more, definitely.”
The result is new album ‘Passages’, a collection of songs which sees the band reflecting on what it actually feels like to still be doing this after so many years. Edwards explains “In the time we stopped writing and recording frequently, music has changed (of course), as have the band members themselves. Anything we play live has got to be immediate and visceral, and that way it’s very much like the writing approach of the first two Jesus Jones albums. All told, I’m really excited about this album, like I’m excited about this rejuvenating phase in our career. I think it is an album that’s creatively interesting, one that sounds both like Jesus Jones and unlike Jesus Jones in the best ways, and above all it rocks!”
‘Passages’ has been helped into existence by a hugely successful Pledge campaign and will be released in June 2017. They have also announced the first of two planned tours for this year – and will be playing the following shows:
MAY
Sunday 28th DARWEN, Live Festival
JUNE
Friday 2nd DERBY, The Venue www.livemusicderby.co.uk
Saturday 3rd MILTON KEYNES, The Craufurd Arms www.thecraufurdarms.com
Sunday 4th CHELTENHAM, Wychwood Festival www.wychwoodfestival.com
Friday 16th CARDIFF, Globe www.globecardiffmusic.com
Wednesday 28th BRISTOL, The Fleece www.thefleece.co.uk
Thursday 29th LONDON, The 100 Club www.the100club.com
Founded in 1989, Jesus Jones found an instant, and receptive audience. Throughout the early 90’s the band enjoyed phenomenal success in the UK and particularly in America, where their single ‘Right Here Right Now’ rose to number one, and their second album ‘Doubt’ sold over a million copies. They’ve played all the major festivals worldwide including the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury, venues such as Wembley Stadium, and performed to a quarter of a million people in Brazil.
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