pre order the living kind released 15th march

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SHOWS

Date Event Location
John Smith @ Bristol Beacon Bristol Beacon, Bristol Bristol Beacon, Bristol
John Smith @ Union Chapel Union Chapel, London Union Chapel, London
John Smith @ The Stables The Stables, Milton Keynes The Stables, Milton Keynes
John Smith @ Colchester Arts Centre Colchester Arts Centre, Colchester Colchester Arts Centre, Colchester
John Smith @ Trades Club Trades Club, Hebden Bridge Trades Club, Hebden Bridge
John Smith @ The Wardrobe The Wardrobe, Leeds The Wardrobe, Leeds
John Smith @ Centre for Contemporary Arts Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow
John Smith @ The Caves The Caves, Edinburgh The Caves, Edinburgh
John Smith @ The Brook The Brook, Southampton The Brook, Southampton
John Smith @ Exeter Phoenix Exeter Phoenix, Exeter Exeter Phoenix, Exeter
John Smith @ Storey's Field Centre Storey's Field Centre, Cambridge Storey's Field Centre, Cambridge
John Smith @ Storyhouse Storyhouse, Chester Storyhouse, Chester
John Smith @ Upper Chapel Upper Chapel, Sheffield Upper Chapel, Sheffield
John Smith @ The Glasshouse The Glasshouse, Gateshead The Glasshouse, Gateshead
John Smith @ Brewery Arts Brewery Arts, Kendal Brewery Arts, Kendal
John Smith @ Warwick Arts Centre Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
John Smith @ Whelan's Whelan's, Dublin Whelan's, Dublin
John Smith @ Dolans Warehouse Dolans Warehouse, Limerick City Dolans Warehouse, Limerick City
John Smith @ DeBarras Folk Club DeBarras Folk Club, Clonakilty DeBarras Folk Club, Clonakilty
John Smith @ Coughlans Bar Coughlans Bar, Cork Coughlans Bar, Cork

BIO

He was dubbed the future of folk music by Pentangle’s John Renbourn, but singer-songwriter John Smith’s unique synthesis of styles puts him halfway across the Atlantic. The Living Kind is his masterpiece in American atmospherics: a true musician’s record, produced by Joe Henry, the man responsible for some of the subtlest Americana of recent times. 

At the start of 2022 they cooked up the idea for an intimate record – “an acoustic album that sounded like Spirit of Eden”, Smith explains, referencing Talk Talk’s 1988 classic. Along with John Martyn’s Solid Air and Joni Mitchell’s electro-acoustic odyssey Hejira, it was one of the three creative inspirations for The Living Kind

Like Hejira, the new album is a cohesive song-cycle that seems to be cast in one rich tone-colour. In 2020, Smith’s family suffered a cluster of personal crises in the space of three months. After that and the resultant rebuild, as he sings in The World Turns, Smith had to “find a new way to feel”. 

The Living Kind is about responsibility and being very keenly aware of your place within a family dynamic,” he explains. “When I started writing these songs, I knew what was happening; in the space of three years, I had essentially become a different person.”

The album was cut over just four days in February 2023, in Joe Henry’s remote home in Harpswell, Maine. With temperatures dropping to -25 outside, the band – consisting of Henry’s son Levon and bassist Ross Gallagher – didn’t leave the house at all. You can hear the darkness and warmth in the new songs. Smith adored the spontaneity of recording live, “moving air around, making eye contact, dancing and weaving” with his core musicians. Gallagher, a jazz player, could intuit his next moves effortlessly. Drums were shared between Jay Bellerose (Robert Plant) and Joshua Van Tessel (Bahamas); Henry’s regular keyboardist Patrick Warren, who composed the music to True Detective, can be heard adding keyboards, strings and unmistakeable gothic vibrations to many songs.

STORE

The Fray: CD
  • The Fray: CD
In cart Not available Out of stock
£10.00

1 - Friends 2 - Hold On 3 - Sanctuary 4 - Deserving 5 - The Best Of Me 6 - Star-Crossed Lovers 7 - To The Shore 8 - Eye To Eye 9 - Just as You Are 10 - The Fray 11 - She’s Doing Fine 12 - One Day at a Time

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The Fray: Double Vinyl
  • The Fray: Double Vinyl
In cart Not available Out of stock
£25.00

1 - Friends 2 - Hold On 3 - Sanctuary 4 - Deserving 5 - The Best Of Me 6 - Star-Crossed Lovers 7 - To The Shore 8 - Eye To Eye 9 - Just as You Are 10 - The Fray 11 - She’s Doing Fine 12 - One Day at a Time

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Live in Chester: CD
  • Live in Chester: CD
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£8.00

1 - Hummingbird 2 - Hares on the Mountain 3 - Burden of the Road 4 - She is My Escape 5 - Master Kilby 6 - There is a Stone 7 - Joanna / Tupelo Honey 8 - Coming Home 9 - Willy Moore 10 - Save My Life 11 - To Have So Many 12 - Far Too Good 13 - Salty and Sweet 14 - Winter

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Hummingbird: CD
  • Hummingbird: CD
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£8.00

1 - Hummingbird 2 - Lowlands of Holland 3 - Boudica 4 - Hares on the Mountain 5 - Lord Franklin 6 - Master Kilby 7 - The Time Has Come 8 - Willy Moore 9 - Axe Mountain (Revisited) 10 - Unquiet Grave

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Hummingbird: Vinyl
  • Hummingbird: Vinyl
In cart Not available Out of stock
£15.00

1 - Hummingbird 2 - Lowlands of Holland 3 - Boudica 4 - Hares on the Mountain 5 - Lord Franklin 6 - Master Kilby 7 - The Time Has Come 8 - Willy Moore 9 - Axe Mountain (Revisited) 10 - Unquiet Grave

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Headlong: CD
  • Headlong: CD
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£8.00

1 - Living in Disgrace 2 - Headlong 3 - Far Too Good 4 - Coming Home 5 - Joanna 6 - Possession 7 - Undone 8 - Threshold 9 - Into the World 10 - Desire 11 - Save My Life

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Great Lakes: CD
  • Great Lakes: CD
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£8.00

1 - There is a Stone 2 - Great Lakes 3 - England Rolls Away 4 - Freezing Winds of Change 5 - Town to Town 6 - Salty and Sweet 7 - She is My Escape 8 - Away We Go 9 - Perfect Storm 10 - Forever to the End 11 - Lungs

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6 x CDs
  • 6 x CDs
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£40.00

The Fray Variations CD The Fray CD Live in Chester CD Hummingbird CD Headlong CD Great Lakes CD

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Pre-order The Living Kind

Pre-save on digital platforms here

Buy all versions of the CD and vinyl here

Alternate cover, signed copies and  t-shirts here

MUSIC

CONTACT

Agent Zac Peters, Runway Agency


Management Neil Pearson, Sounds Just Fine


Publisher Sentric Music


Label / Distributor Thirty Tigers


John  here