New Primal Scream Single Out Now
THE Primal Scream release new song “Deep Dark Waters“, second single from the upcoming studio album “Come Ahead“, due out via BMG on November 8, 2024 – the band’s first new album in eight years.
“Deep Dark Waters” hits with heavy bass, shimmering backing vocals and flamenco guitars while Bobby Gillespie’s lyrics are a cautionary tale. The song is a mirror to the dark current of our times: “We are sailing in deep, dark waters. There is still time to change course.”
Talking about the song, Bobby Gillespie he stated:
“”Deep Dark Waters” is influenced by the writings of Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi. Contains a warning from history. “Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.”
Franco “Bifo” Berardi is an activist, writer and essayist from Bologna, one of the founders of the experience of Radio Alicethe Bologna radio station of the 1977 movement, closed by force by the police. Bifo was accused of belonging to the Red Brigades but later released and acquitted. The Bologna activist was later accused of “inciting class hatred by radio” and to escape the charges he took refuge, like many, in France. He then continued his studies beyond the Alps and in America.
The official music video for “Deep Dark Waters” was directed by the famous director Douglas Hartwhose connection with Gillespie dates back to the days of Jesus and Mary Chainwhere he has played bass since the classic debut album “Psychocandy”.
New video features Bobby Gillespie and Primal Scream bassist Simone Marie Butler (but also on stage with Jesus and Mary Chains) in a technicolor dreamscape and marks the latest in a long series of collaborations with Hart who has been behind Primal Scream’s music videos since 1991.
“Come Ahead” is the 12th full-length album by Primal Scream and the first new album since 2016’s “Chaosmosis”. It consists of 11 songs featuring the group’s main songwriter, singer and frontman, Bobby Gillespiepreparing to release some of the most personal songs of his career.
“Deep Dark Waters” follows the single “Love Insurrection“, which MOJO described as “a plea for peace, love and understanding from within a funky disco escape” and contained part of the text in Italian (Read here).
The songwriting process for “Come Ahead” began in 2022, when Bobby Gillespie still had no idea if he would make another Primal Scream album.
For the first time in a long time, the lyrics came before the music. The story came first. Bobby wrote alone, using an acoustic guitar. The ideas came quickly, in long bursts of inspiration. This process, along with the encouragement of producer David Holmes, provided a new avenue of access. Working with Holmes and Primal Scream guitarist Andrew Innes, the “Come Ahead” sessions were completed in Belfast, London and Los Angeles.
The album artwork was created using a photograph of Bobby’s late father, Robert Gillespie Sr, taken by Turner Prize-nominated artist Jim Lambie. Bobby’s father (a socialist activist) remains deeply respected for his lifelong commitment to campaigning for social justice, and themes of class run through “Come Ahead”. “There’s a message of hope on the record,” says Bobby Gillespie, “but it’s tempered by an acceptance of the worst side of human nature.”
The time since Primal Scream’s previous album has seen Bobby Gillespie at his most prolific, moving from one of his career’s most celebrated projects to another, steadily piling up the songs that would become Come Ahead. His 2021 memoir, Tenement Kid, was chosen as Rough Trade’s Book of the Year and won the NME Award for Best Music Book. The era-defining album Screamadelica celebrated its 30th anniversary with sold-out shows across the UK, including London’s Alexandra Palace. Gillespie collaborated with Paul Weller to write lyrics for Soul Wandering, the first single from his latest album 66, and collaborated with Jehnny Beth in Paris to write and record an entire album of duets titled Utopian Ashes. Bobby has also collaborated with acid house duo Paranoid London, singing on their new song “People (Ah Yeah)”, and composed his first soundtrack for the 2023 film “Five Hectares” with French director Émilie Deleuze. This myriad of new creative projects has provided the living space to shape “Come Ahead”.
The album is being physically released on double vinyl and CD, with a limited edition mirrored silver double vinyl available from HMV and indie stores, as well as a limited edition mirrored red double vinyl and an exclusive t-shirt available from the album’s official store.
