Pitchfork

Perpetual Brit-rock underdogs the Charlatans (with or without the "UK" suffix, depending on your proximity to the International Date Line) will return this spring with their ninth album, Simpatico.. Yes, the period is part of the title. Maybe that's so that it doesn't get confused with Velocity Girl's \xA1Simpatico!?

Arriving in UK stores on April 17 and May 2 in the States, the disc marks their first release under a new deal with Sanctuary Records. It's also the first Charlatans LP to come out in America since 2001's Wonderland

Unlike the back-to-basics approach of their previous LP, 2004's Up at the Lake (which is still unreleased in the U.S.), Simpatico. showcases the Charlatans trying on different moods and styles. As a recent label press release kindly explained:

"No longer using his falsetto, Tim continues to find the sweet spot where Dylan-inspired diatribes meet unstoppably contagious melodies-- both obsess him. These days he happens to also be obsessed with reggae. First heard on Burgess' excellent and overlooked solo record from last year (on which he covered Bob Marley's "Who the Cap Fits"), Simpatico. boasts a number of great blue-eyed reggae tunes, all of them wonderfully upbeat and hummable."

Hey, why the fuck not? It worked for UB40.

Fans wanting a preview of the disc before blowing their weed money can get a taste of the new record when the debut single (and leadoff track) "Blackened Blue Eyes" hits UK stores as a two-part CD single on April 3.

Simpatico. tracklist:

01 Blackened Blue Eyes
02 N.Y.C (No Need to Stop)
03 For Your Entertainment
04 Dead Man's Eye
05 Muddy Ground
06 City of the Dead
07 Road to Paradise
08 When the Lights Go Out in London
09 The Architect
10 Glory Glory
11 Sunset & Vine

The Charlatans also recently announced a number of live dates, including a healthy stack of late-summer festival stops. They'll play a couple of SXSW shows this week, then take a month off before triumphantly crisscrossing their homeland.

Tellin' stories:

03-18 Austin, TX - Velvet Spade (NY2LON day party) *@
03-18 Austin, TX - Exodus (XFM Manchester SXSW showcase) #
04-24 Wolverhampton, England - Civic Hall $
04-25 Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands $
04-26 Edinburgh, Scotland - Corn Exchange $
04-27 Newcastle, England - Carling Academy $
04-29 Sheffield, England - Octagon $
04-30 Liverpool, England - Liverpool University $
05-01 Nottingham, England - Rock City $
05-02 Leeds, England - Leeds University $
05-04 Folkestone, England - Leas Cliff Hall $
05-05 London, England - Carling Brixton Academy $
05-07 Bristol, England - Carling Bristol Academy $
05-08 Exeter, England - Exeter University $
05-09 Southampton, England - Guildhall $
05-11 Norwich, England - University of East Anglia $
05-12 Manchester, England - Carling Apollo Manchester $
05-13 Manchester, England - Carling Apollo Manchester $
07-08 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park *$%
07-09 Kildare, Ireland - Oxegen Festival *%
08-12 Tokyo, Japan - Summer Sonic Festival *$&
08-19 Staffordshire, England - Weston Park (V Festival) +

* with the Kooks
@ with Editors, Two Gallants, the Rakes, the Morning After Girls, Voxtrot, Tapes 'n Tapes, Boy Kill Boy, the Heights
# with Polytechnic, LoneLady, Liam Frost, the Longcut, Nine Black Alps
$ with the Feeling
% with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Paul Weller, Goldfrapp, Pharrell Williams, Sigur Ros, Manu Chao, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Placebo, Damian Marley, Ben Harper
& with My Chemical Romance, Daft Punk, Massive Attack, Metallica, Linkin Park, Flaming lips, Arctic Monkeys, more
+ with Morrissey, Faithless, Paul Weller, Hard-Fi, Sugababes, Razorlight, Groove Armada

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