NEWS: The Futureheads - Limited edition double-vinyl package

The Futureheads’ self-titled debut album was one of the linchpins and stand-out albums of mid-2000’s indie rock and a limited edition double-vinyl album will be available exclusively from rhino.co.uk and thefutureheads.com with a single disc version available from all retailers from 29th November 2019.

Alongside the 1LP album reissue, the limited double-vinyl edition was curated by the band and includes the original album plus a bonus disc of all of the album’s b-sides, available to order here www.rhinouk.lnk.to/TheFutureheads with copies also available to buy on tour with the band.

Originally released in 2004, a year after their self-released EP ‘Nul Book Standard’, the first five of the tracks were produced by Andy Gill of Gang of Four with the rest of the album being produced by Paul Epworth – one of the first albums that Epworth produced. Upon release, the album was met with huge acclaim receiving 4-on-5 and 8-on-10 star reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone, NME, Pitchfork, Q, The Guardian and AllMusic to name but a few with the cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds of Love’ breaking into the UK top 10 and winning single of the year at the 2005 NME Awards.

In The Futureheads own words – the albums journey – “They say that you have your whole life to write your first album, but to us, it doesn’t quite feel like a lifetime ago that we were fresh-faced musicians visiting four different London studios trying to capture (on tape!) the music we’d been making for four years.”

“The journey was a long but enjoyable one. From playing our first gigs with broken and borrowed gear to learning the ins and outs of studios and production, we said yes to practically everything, took every opportunity and tried everything twice. ‘The Futureheads’ really is the chronicling of those first four years; the story of a band growing together and forming a bond that would endure, at the last count, for twenty years.”

“The recording process started with Andy Gill of Gang of Four. We’d recorded three singles/E.P.s with Andy already and saw no reason not to try recording the full-length record with him. Unfortunately, we felt like the majority of the album didn’t capture the ferocity of our live shows and the recordings just didn’t quite work for us. Still, five of the songs from those sessions with Andy made the album: A to B, Alms, The City Is Here For You To Use, First Day and Trying Not To Think About Time.”

“A chance encounter on tour supporting The Kills saw us meet Paul Epworth, at that point a super-skilled sound engineer who was full of positivity and energy. We jumped at the chance of working with him to finish our album. He was more on our wavelength and gave us advice that we’ve never forgotten (still do those vocal warm-ups before every show!). Over about four months we worked at Eastcote, 2khz and The Exchange, putting the album together bit by bit. We captured the sound we wanted on Le Garage, Robot, Carnival Kids and Man Ray; wrote in the studio for the first time: Decent Days and Nights and Meantime; and produced our first acapella (well almost – couldn’t lose that snippet of Fender Rhodes on Danger of the Water).”

“Paul pulled it all together and made us believe that we could actually make an album we were proud of. He also produced our cover of Kate Bush’s Hounds Of Love, which ended up taking the band into a new world (and the top ten). It’s a record that we’ll always be indebted to, in a sense, as it set the band on a quite unexpected path. It’s great that 15 years later the vinyl has been repressed and will be back on the shelves.”

The special edition of the debut record re-release contains all of the B-sides from the singles taken from that first album. The Futureheads – “B-sides are an odd concept, but we loved being relaxed in the studio and just trying stuff out. We recorded these songs in First Avenue in Heaton, Newcastle with the illustrious Dave Curle (working with Dave in this studio became our ‘go-to’ over the next fifteen years for B-sides, external projects and then eventually parts of an album (The Chaos), and full albums (Rant and Powers).”

The collection on this record shows a different side of the band. It also includes the Area EP, and remixes/covers of Hounds of Love by long-time friends and one-time label mates of the band, Mystery Jets, and by Paul Epworth himself, under his Phones moniker.

Track List

1LP Side One

Le Garage

Robot

A to B

Decent Days and Nights

Meantime

ALMS

Danger of the Water

Side Two

Carnival Kids

The City Is Here for You to Use