Robyn Hitchcock announced his new album ‘Shufflemania!‘ on 21st October on Tiny Ghost Records. This is his latest album after a hiatus of nearly five years following his self-entitled album of 2017. It includes his brand new single ‘The Shuffle Man.‘
During the pandemic, Hitchcock bought a 5-track recording device – like the 4-track cassette machine on which he wrote and arranged ‘I Often Dream of Trains’ more than three decades earlier. He emailed his new guitar-and-vocal songs to a star-studded selection of musician friends around the world, all of whom were also working from more technologically advanced home studios, among them Johnny Marr, Sean Ono Lennon, Brendan Benson, Kimberley Rew, Morris Windsor, Kelley Stoltz, Anne Lise Frøkedal, Davey Lane (You Am I), Eric Slick (Dr. Dog), and Pat Sansone (Wilco, The Autumn Defense), all of whom contributed to the album.
“The Shuffle Man is the imp of change, the agent of fortune“, explains Hitchcock, “He throws the cards up in the air and leaves you to deal with where they fall. He is the exhilaration of chaos – with fast hands and a stovepipe hat. To me, most songs are about themselves and how they make you feel… What triggers them is mysterious. The songs on this record are a series of sub-personalities, fertilized by chance. You might even say they were cards, dealt to me by The Shuffle Man. Listening back now, to me Shufflemania! is a party record, direct from my unconscious to you. Even if you’re a party of one – have fun with it!”
The album will be available on limited edition blue vinyl, classic black vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital download and can be pre-ordered from https://robynhitchcockofficial.bandcamp.com/
Hitchcock is also performing a series of shows next month in small venues.
September 2022 tour dates:
13th – Falmouth – The Cornish Bank
14th – Totnes – The Barrel House
15th – Bristol – Redgrave Theatre
20th – Hertford – Hertford Corn Exchange
21st – Reading – South Street Arts Centre
22nd – Deal – The Lighthouse
23rd – Norwich – Norwich Puppet Theatre
Far out. Where the hippy and the punk re-meet!