After some delays, the new album from The Chameleons containing new songs has been finally released through Artful Records. This is the first album in 15 years containing new songs from the band from Middleton. The album is called Why Call it Anything and here is the track list:1 Shades
2 Anyone Alive?
3 Indiana
4 Lufthansa
5 Truth Isn't Truth Anymore
6 All Around
7 Dangerous Land
8 Music In The Womb
9 Miracles and Wonders
10 Are You Still There?
On this Amazon link you can listen to some excerps from the songs.
Album technical data:
Mark Burgess: Bass, voices, lyrics
Dave Fielding: Guitar, keyboards and backing vocals
Reg Smithies: Guitar and backing vocals
John Lever: Guitar and backing vocals
All songs written and performed by The Chameleons with additional vocals, lyrics and percussion by Kwasi Asante
Produced by David M. Allen and The Chameleons
Engineers: David M. Allen, John Rivers and Ewan Davies.
Mixed by John Rivers and David M. Allen
Recorded at Chapel, ARC and Woodbine Studios between September 2000 and May 2001.
© 2001 Artful Records LTD. ARTFULCD39
MarK Burgess Comments about the album:
Mark E. Smith once said, while discussing his band 'The Fall', that regardless of what critics might tell you a band doesn't survive for ten years in this business if what they produce is crap. Around the same time Pete Shelley from 'Buzzcocks' said that no matter how hard the struggle to establish oneself might become, if an artist makes a truly great record it will be heard. Both statements struck a chord with me at the time and now here I am, some twenty four years later, a member of The Chameleons, writing the sleeve notes to our fifth album (all the others were retrospectives and therefore don't really count). Not a prolific output compared to some I grant you but significant never the less. The fact that a few records made by four scruffy lads from Middleton, Manchester (no, that's not fair, John could never be described as 'scruffy' and besides, he comes from Tameside) could touch so many hearts and minds the world over amazes me. Especially as Dave seems to be the only universally attractive one, but they did, so there we are. I say 'amazes me' because I'm the only member of the group that wastes time thinking about stuff like that, at least openly. If you were to ask us outright (and many have tried), what lies at the core of The Chameleons all you'd probably get would be a giggle and a bewildered glance. The truth is we don't know. One might as well ask why, from all of the millions of people in the world, only a handful emerge to capture our hearts so completely. Why do we cry when we see them born? Or cry when we lose them? We can label it 'this' or call it 'that' but in the final analysis why call it anything? It just happens. In order to make things happen though, one sometimes needs help. So! Thanks to Dave Allen for all the fun and frolics; and to John down at Woodbine for helping mix the sonics. To 'Arc' and 'The Chapel' who provide the electronics; To Stany Stan the man who can for all the Rolling Rockets; To Boomer, Dougie, Will and Shan for nursing alcholics; to Simon Lawlor management for all the Gin and Tonics; and to you and others like for reaching for your pockets. Finally a very big thanks to our special guest and close friend Kwasi Asanti who provided additional percussion and some great vocals, Raster Master!
Mark Burgess, Six o'clock in the morning, Corfu, 2001
A Race Commodity
P.S...Reg! What a face! Nice one nutcase!
