THE WANDERING HEARTS share new single ‘Instead Of You’ & announce the deluxe edition of their self titled album

THE WANDERING HEARTS share new single ‘Instead Of You’ & announce the deluxe edition of their self titled album

The Wandering Hearts achieved their second consecutive #1 on the UK’s official Country and Americana charts as they built upon the breakthrough success of 2018’s ‘Wild Silence’ debut with last summer’s self-titled second album.

Arriving to a second wave of critical acclaim and again championed by Bob Harris at Radio 2, the album cemented the trio’s reputation as one of the leading lights of the British country/folk / Americana scenes – as underlined by their nomination for UK Album of the Year at the UK Americana Awards 2022, alongside Yola and The Staves.

Now The Wandering Hearts make a great thing better as they announce that a Deluxe Edition of the album will be released on May 13th. The Deluxe Edition is launched alongside the brand new single ‘Instead Of You’. Watch the video BELOW:

‘Instead of You’ is a serious contender for one of The Wandering Hearts’ finest moments. Their renowned three-part harmonies are completely on point, with Chess Whiffin and Tara Wilcox’s sumptuous voices weaving elegantly around AJ Dean-Revington’s supporting baritone. There’s a darker heart and a haunting sense of melancholy that sets the track apart from the rest of their songbook. Whereas the original album celebrated the power of connection and the unbroken human spirit, ‘Instead of You’ possesses the empowerment to know that sometimes breaking away is for the best. The song was recorded in Connecticut with the Grammy Award-winning producer Peter Katis (The National).

The Wandering Hearts commented, “‘Instead Of You’ is dreamy but determined. Sometimes, anything is preferable to feeling equally trapped between staying or leaving, but you just know you have to get out for your own good. With echoes of our ‘60s and ‘70s influences, the song’s psychedelic folk-rock sound tells its own story of freedom.”

The Deluxe Edition adds ten previously unreleased songs to the original album’s tracklist. ‘Instead Of You’ and the live staple ‘Your Love Hurts’ are both songs that The Wandering Hearts adore, but neither found a fitting place within the context of the original album. They have now both found their home on the Deluxe Edition.

Fuelled by larking about and a cheeky nightcap or two, ‘Carry On’ is a new song… of sorts. A reimagined take on the single ‘On Our Way’ that nods to The Beatles, John Prine, Bob Dylan and Arlo Guthrie, it’s the result of a high-spirited late-night jam in The Wandering Hearts’ home studio.

The remainder of the Deluxe Edition features a personally curated selection of some of The Wandering Hearts’ finest live moments in support of the album. ‘Dreams’ and ‘Build A Fire’ were recorded live for Radio 2 for The Country Show with Bob Harris, while five songs were recorded at various dates of their sold-out 2021 UK acoustic tour.

The band added, “We had so many songs to choose from when we put our self-titled album together so when we had the opportunity to record even more for the Deluxe Edition, we obviously jumped at the chance. It’s a tricky job trying to choose the right songs for the right place on the right album and that often means eliminating songs we’re really passionate about at the eleventh hour. Exciting as the recording process is, it’s quite hard coming to terms with the fact that the vision you have can’t always manifest in reality.”

The Deluxe Edition will be released shortly before The Wandering Hearts embark upon their first full-scale tour in support of the album. Having completed ‘In Harmony: An Intimate Tour’ last summer, The Wandering Hearts will step into bigger venues this May for the ‘On Our Way’ UK tour – including their biggest London headline show to date at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire. The remaining tickets for the shows, listed below, are available here:

MAY 2022
15th – Glasgow, St. Luke’s
16th – Newcastle, Wylam Brewery
17th – Leeds, The Wardrobe
20th – Liverpool, O2 Academy 2
21st – Norwich, Waterfront
22nd – Birmingham, O2 Institute 2
24th – Bristol, Trinity Centre
25th – London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
27th – Brighton, Concorde 2

‘The Wandering Hearts’ Deluxe Edition tracklist:

‘Hammer Falls’
‘Over Your Body’
‘Build A Fire’
‘I Feel It Too’
‘Gold’
‘Dolores’
‘Dreams’
‘Never Too Late’
‘Tell Me When I Wake Up’
‘On Our Way’
‘Stardust’
‘Lullaby’
‘Instead of You’ (new song)
‘Your Love Hurts (new song)
‘Carry On’ (bonus track)
‘Dreams’ (Live at Radio 2)
‘Build A Fire’ (Live at Radio 2)
‘Gold’ (Acoustic Tour 2021, Live in Aberdeen)
‘Dolores’ (Acoustic Tour 2021, Live in Kendal)
‘Never Too Late’ (Acoustic Tour 2021, Live in Stirling)
‘I Feel It Too’ (Acoustic Tour 2021, Live in Gateshead)
‘Hammer Falls’ (Acoustic Tour 2021, Live in Cardiff)

Listen to the XS Noize interview with AJ Dean-Revington, Tara Wilcox and Chess Whiffin – The Wandering Hearts here

 

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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