06 Sep Hear The Bookshop Band Live with Dark New Album Produced by Pete Townshend
Rock legend Pete Townshend was so “blown away” when he discovered The Bookshop Band that he offered to produce their next album.
The result is, Emerge, Return. You can hear the band – Ben Please and Beth Porter – play the album live when they appear in Todmorden on 13th November as part of Todmorden Book Festival.
Townshend was gifted a set of Ben and Beth’s CDs and admired the quality of the music and – as a former bookshop owner himself – the fact that their work is inspired by literature.
He said: “I listened to the CDs in my car as I was travelling. I was blown away, completely blown away. I got into the whole Bookshop Band technique, which is just two people making this sound like a symphony orchestra. It’s quite extraordinary. Each song was special in its own way. So, I reached out.”
Townshend threw himself into the project, not only producing the album at his own studio but playing on every track.
Emerge, Return is a dark album of 13 songs, all written by Ben and Beth, responding to themes including the oppression of bodies, free will and free speech that are explored in books such as:
- The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood
- Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
- and The Book Of Dust, by Philip Pullman.
Pam Warhurst Book Festival Chair said: “We’re very much looking forward to welcoming The Bookshop Band. This is an event that should appeal to anyone who loves great literature and enjoys excellent music – and it will be all the more enjoyable because it will be taking place in an intimate and friendly location.”
The album has earned widespread praise with Shaun Keaveny describing it as “Hypnotically beautiful” on Radio 2’s The Folk Show and Zoe Ball describing the band as “amazing!” on the Breakfast Show.
The title comes from a song inspired by Robert Macfarlane’s Underland, which glimpses our underworlds and morality in the scale of deep time.
Ben said: “It’s been a rollercoaster working with Pete Townshend, really exciting and not something we could ever have predicted happening.
“He brought his great musicality and experience to the recording process, doing things we’d never have thought of ourselves, offering a different perspective on the songs. That’s the value of working with a great producer.
“And the fact that he ended up playing on every track added an extra dimension – I think that fans will hear his influence woven right the way through the album.”
The band, which has worked with many celebrated authors, plays gigs in small bookshops across the UK, USA and Europe. It is much admired among writers, with best-sellers such as Kate Mosse (The Ghost Ship) specifically asking them to write songs for the book launches.
The band has existed largely off-grid, occupying a creative space between the music and book worlds. Their approach is to read books, respond by writing a song, then bring the work to new audiences by performing in (mostly independent) bookshops.
They have previously recorded 13 albums, which have been sold at gigs and online. Emerge, Return will be their first wider, commercial release.
Beth said: “Ben and I are really excited to be touring this album. Playing these songs live and getting to share stories in bookshops is what this band is all about.”
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