Scottish singer-songwriter – PHILIP SETH CAMPBELL – has unveiled “Magical West”, the first single to be taken from his forthcoming solo album ‘City Lights’ (out 1 September 2023 via Assai Records). The artist has also announced an extensive UK and Ireland tour for Autumn 2023, as well as three in-store shows in his native Scotland to mark the album’s release.
A shimmering and synth-heavy cut that feels as though it was plucked straight from the silver screen, “Magical West” arrives as the first sampler from Campbell’s forthcoming album ‘City Lights’ (out 1 September via Assai Records).
An amalgamation of Campbell’s life and career up until this point, the new record unfolds like a series of cinematic snapshots captured in timeless technicolour. From new single and album opener “Magic West” to plucky ballads like “Break The Curse” and “Sober Boy”, and from the bluesy soulful title-track “City Lights” to riled-up and rocky “Gut City Blues”, the LP sees the artist traverse time and genre with a deft sense of musicality that glints and glimmers like an unearthed trove of deep-buried treasure.
Speaking of the new record, Campbell explains: “”City Lights” is everything I know. The album flowed naturally, each song informing the next. It’s half new songs and half older unfinished pieces. I’ve been writing it since I was 16, all through my 20s and my years in London, through moving home to The Temperance Movement, touring, resting and having a family.”
The sound of an artist who has been through the wringer and emerged all the more assured on the other side, the album tells the tale of the highs, lows and everything in between. From major labels and critical acclaim to bands, solo records and eclectic collaborations, Campbell’s musical scars have only served to hone his craft and embolden his work in a way that makes him the musician he is today.
Speaking of his varied career and the bumpy road he’s traversed to get to this point, Campbell adds: “A new band here, a new project there, a change of direction again and again until, suddenly there was calm and the time to think. In a small studio just outside Glasgow, with pictures of Bowie, Jagger, Neil Young and Tom Waits, I recorded an album about my whole life. I had no desire to shed my skin. I was perfectly comfortable in it for the very first time.”
Hailing from Glasgow, Philip Seth Campbell has been releasing music since 1997. Having released a handful of records and EPs over the years, Campbell gave it all up in 2012 to join London-based rock band The Temperance Movement.
Having toured the world with the band and learnt how to sing, seven years on the road took its toll, and The Temperance Movement came to an end in late 2019. A short while later, Campbell formed a second, Glasgow-based band, The Byson Family. The collaboration had been a long time coming, and what started as a side project became a serious concern as they set about recording their debut album, which was released in 2020.
Having since released snapshots of solo material, including the 2022 EP ‘Feel Again’, Philip Seth Campbell has been praised for his ability to channel a primal Springsteen howl one moment and evoke a tender Sam Cooke croon the next. With a shapeshifting sonic ability that means listeners are never quite sure which musical alley he’ll wander up next, Campbell’s songwriting is honest and unflinching, yet widescreen and cinematic at the same time.
Imbued with an innate sense of musicality — and with a voice so uniquely classic it’s hard not to love — Campbell is a musician’s musician and one who is now calling on past experience to look to the future. A man with stories to tell and songs that need to be sung, Philip Seth Campbell’s unique sound is perhaps more urgent now than ever.
Check out the video for ‘Magical West’ – BELOW:
The new album ‘City Lights’ is set to land on 1 September. To mark the album’s release, Campbell will be playing three in-store shows at Assai Records in Glasgow, Dundee and Edinburgh. He has also announced an extensive UK and Ireland tour for October/November 2023. With tickets on sale from 10 AM on 12 June, find full dates and details below.
PHILIP SETH CAMPBELL UK + IRELAND TOUR 2023
SEPTEMBER
01 GLASGOW Assai Records (in-store)
02 DUNDEE Assai Records (in-store)
02 EDINBURGH Assai Records (in-store)
OCTOBER
11 NEWCASTLE The Cluny 2
12 LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
14 LONDON Hoxton Hall
15 TUNBRIDGE WELLS The Forum
16 CAMBRIDGE Portland Arms
17 LEICESTER The Musician
18 BIRKENHEAD Future Yard
22 EDINBURGH Voodoo Rooms
26 MANCHESTER The Deaf Institute
28 GLASGOW Mono
31 DUBLIN Workman’s Club
NOVEMBER
01 BELFAST Black Box
Tickets available now
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‘CITY LIGHTS’ TRACKLIST
1. Magical West
2. Revelation
3. All The Way Down
4. Hasta Luego
5. Break The Curse
6. City Lights
7. Soul Fire
8. Silent Symphony
9. Sober Boy
10. Gut City Blues
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