***2024 – NEW SINGLE***

The Very Things GXL – Mr. Arc-Eye (under a cellophane sky) (single)
Release date: 23rd August 2024, on all major digital platforms.
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One of the first new releases fromThe Very Things’ marque in over 35 years, Mr Arc-Eye (under a cellophane sky) is the second single and title track of the new album developed over the past 10 years by principal ‘The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes’ and ‘Motortown’ writer, RR Dallaway.

It features: original 80s teen drumming phenomenon ‘Disney Time’, Steven Burrows (bass), Tony Sherrard (bass) and Dallaway (vocals, guitar, keyboards and found sounds).

It contains: work boots, a blister pack, some tiny figures, a toga and an abandoned bar.

Maybe it’s about the 'models of the world we hold in our heads'.

Facts

1. The voice of the late Waldo Esteva, celebrated Chilean poet and artist, features on the track and video intro. Is there an oblique nod to Ealing Films’ ‘Passport to Pimlico’?

2. The video was worked on entirely during the Covid 19 lockdown of 2021, to a soundtrack of Floyd Cramer’s ‘On The Rebound’.

3. The brief for Mr. Arc-Eye’s make-up was to look like ‘Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra make-up applied by an angry Teddy Boy, in the dark’.

4. WARNING: Mr. Arc-Eye video contains challenging images. MAY CAUSE FLASHBACKS TO FORMER LIVES OR OTHER OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES.

‘Jack was a bit quiet after the welding mishap, but started talking about space, the universe and stuff. Sometimes he seemed to have blindingly brilliant insights. Most days he was wrapped in a white bedsheet, building intricate models of space-rockets. He just seemed to be in an increasingly eccentric orbit. Around what?'

Built around a tune played on a Pamphonic Orbit Four guitar, the track also calls back to early TVT’s obsession with 50s sci-fi.

A bit of history

• Founded by RR Dallaway and The Shend (also founder members of The Cravats) in 1983.

• 2024 is the 40th anniversary of TVT’s ‘The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes’ album.

• BBC Radio 1's John Peel favourites.

• Indie chart regulars.

• Radio 1 playlisted (This is Motortown, Let’s Go Out).

• Cult black and white video for Channel 4’s ‘The Tube’.

The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes, indie hit of 1984, is still a frequently played favourite, with its themes of neurosis and control. The video, a much loved homage to 50s sci-fi films (reputedly the most expensive film made for Tyne Tees TV’s ‘The Tube’ on Channel 4) still clocks up thousands of views online. “That’s The Very Things showing how to make a really crushing LP for less than many bands spend putting up their noses in a week.” John Peel, BBC Radio 1.

Motortown, the second album released in 1987, included indie hits ‘This Is Motortown’ and ‘Let’s Go Out’. ‘In a blaze of supercharged funk rhythms and twanging guitars arrives the sound ofMotortown, UK... The Very Things have forged an essential slice of indie funk’. Music Week.

RR Dallaway was co-founder of The Cravats, the DcL (DadaCravat Laboratories) and The Very Things. This album marks his first return to lead vocals since The Cravats and DcL Locomotive.

– Ends –

Notes for editors: For more information, contact Monica.

The GXL suffix may be a reference to trim levels offered by Ford Motors UK for its 1970s Mark IIICortina: Base L (Luxury), XL (Xtra Luxury) and top of the range GXL (Grand Xtra Luxury). Or may just indicate a new phase of operations. The ‘Bushes Scream’ album was badged ‘The Very Things DcL’.

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