Billy Bragg has released new single ‘Ten Mysterious Photos That Can’t Be Explained’ today on the Cooking Vinyl label. Watch the video HERE.
Saving the best ‘til last, ‘Ten Mysterious Photos…’ is the final track on Billy’s recently announced tenth studio album ‘The Million Things That Never Happened’, and is co-written by Billy’s son Jack Valero. Stream ‘Ten Mysterious Photos…’ and pre-order the album HERE.
The song is a rollicking hoedown that takes a wry look at the joys and pitfalls of social media. The musicians on the track are Billy Bragg (guitar/ vocals), Romeo Stodart (piano/guitar), Jack Valero (guitar), Dave Izumi (organ/mellotron), Joe Harvey Whyte (pedal steel/banjo) and Darren Beckett (drums).
Says Billy: “I like my albums to finish with a stomper. My son Jack helped me out with this one. He’s a pretty good songwriter himself, and when I played him what I had and he said it’s good but it needs some work. I said well you go and do it then. So he came back and he’d added a middle section and, you know what, he was right. I was really pleased. People have asked if there might be a ‘father and son’ album down the tracks. All I will say is you never know what the future might bring. ‘Ten Mysterious Photos…’ is about life online, both good and bad. I try not to get sucked down too many wormholes, but it can happen.”
On Thursday 9th September 2021, ‘Billy Bragg on…’, an online concert experience exploring the music and mind of Billy Bragg will be streamed on the Stabal platform. The show will feature the first outing of some songs from Bragg’s new album, plus some nuggets from his illustrious catalogue. Information and tickets are available HERE.
Billy Bragg will be touring the UK in the autumn and is very excited to put the last nearly two years behind us and get back to what he does best.
The full list of dates is:
OCTOBER
Thu 21 GATESHEAD – Sage Gateshead
Fri 22 DUNDEE – Fat Sam’s
Sat 23 GLASGOW – Barrowland Ballroom
Tues 26 LIVERPOOL – Philharmonic Hall
Wed 27 OXFORD – New Theatre
Thurs 28 BIRMINGHAM – Symphony Hall
Sat 30 CARDIFF – St David’s Hall
Sun 31 SOUTHAMPTON – 02 Guildhall
NOVEMBER
Tues 2 BELFAST – Ulster Hall
Thurs 4 DUBLIN – Vicar Street
Sat 6 GALWAY – Black Box Theatre
Wed 10 READING – Hexagon
Thurs 11 EXETER – University Great Hall
Fri 12 BRISTOL – 02 Academy
Tues 16 GUILDFORD – G Live
Thurs 18 CAMBRIDGE – Corn Exchange
Fri 19 NOTTINGHAM – Rock City
Sat 20 MANCHESTER – Albert Hall
Sun 21 SHEFFIELD – City Hall
Tues 23 BRIGHTON – Dome
Thurs 25 SOUTHEND-ON-SEA – Cliffs Pavilion
Fri 26 FOLKESTONE – Leas Cliff Hall
Sat 27 LONDON – Roundhouse
Some tickets are still available via www.billybragg.co.uk/giglistings and Brighton Dome concert tickets are also available HERE.
Billy Bragg has been a fearless recording artist, tireless live performer and peerless political campaigner for over 30 years. He has released 9 solo studio albums: ‘Life’s A Riot With Spy Vs Spy’ (1983); ‘Brewing Up With Billy Bragg’ (1984); ‘Talking With The Taxman About Poetry’ (1986); ‘Workers’ Playtime’ (1988); ‘Don’t Try This At Home’ (1991); ‘William Bloke’ (1996); ‘England, Half English’ (2002); ‘Mr Love & Justice’ (2008); ‘Tooth & Nail’ (2013); two albums with Wilco – (Grammy nominated) ‘Mermaid Avenue’ (1998); ‘Mermaid Avenue Vol II’ (2000); and one album with Joe Henry – ‘Shine A Light: Field Recordings From The Great American Railroad’ (2016). He released a mini album ‘Bridges Not Walls’ in 2017. His most recent release was ‘The Best Of Billy Bragg At The BBC 1983-2019’ (2019).
At their best, Billy’s songs present “the perfect Venn diagram between the political and the personal” (The Guardian).
Billy Bragg added best-selling author/musicologist to his CV with the success of his acclaimed 2017 book ‘Roots, Radicals & Rockers – How Skiffle Changed The World’. His most recent book, ‘The Three Dimensions of Freedom’, an extended essay arguing that liberty must be tempered with a commitment to accountability, has been translated into German and Spanish.
