SATURDAY 10TH DECEMBER in LONDON @ OMEARA.”
You’ve probably heard that music venues keep on closing down? It’s a tragedy. So we can all find a bit of solace in the knowledge that new venues are also opening. OMEARA is a brand spanking new 320 capacity live music and club space minutes walk from London Bridge tube station. It’s been lovingly created by my old pal Ben Lovett (who produced my first album “Standing on a Chair” don’t you know) with no expense spared. A sweet PA, a great shaped room, a decent selection of booze and some lovely bar staff. It’s the perfect place to hold this gathering.
This will be a Beans on Toast gig like no other. I’ll be joined onstage by the many folk who collaborated on my new album “A Spanner in the Works” (released 1st December on Xtra Mile Recordings) and that means doo wop singers, honky tonk piano players, a barber shop quartet and lots of trumpet. I’ve also invited along some of my favourite musical friends to come and play and the night will cover Blues, Folk, Hip Hop, Electro, Breakbeat, Dub and Reggae. It’ll be rammed full of collaborations and crossovers with me and my extended musical family. So it’s my pleasure to announce…
SON OF DAVE
One of the last true Bluesmen, this beatboxing, foot stomping, harmonica welding rebel is a true one of a kind. I’ve been a huge fan for many years and am so excited to have him here.
SKINNY LISTER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6FDmLyQoUQ
Need no introduction. Label mates, touring partners and family. Skinny will be bringing a stripped down set of drinking tunes and party bangers and yes, we’ll be doing the Christmas tune.
TOO MANY T’S
UK Hip Hop at it’s finest, crazy crazy vocal skills from Standaloft and Leon Rhymes, the nicest guys in Hip Hop. Guaranteed to blow the roof off and smash the party.
FREEAR
Mike Freear (who produced my 5th album “Giving Everything”) on the decks and Kathika Rabbit on the mic. Electro swing, breakbeat, genre defying mash ups and incredible lyricism, the two pillars of the greatest festival act Slamboree. Although I’ll be hammered by this time of night I’ll jump up for a turn. The Festivals not dead, after all.
KING YOOF
This Breakbeat, Dub and Reggae legend mixed the new record. Cutting his teeth at the original UK Rave scene and still just as relevant today. An honour to have him involved on the record and closing the night off.
This once in a lifetime event will Kick off at 8pm and going through till 2am.
It’s Saturday night folks, it’s been a tough year, lets have a fucking party.
Lots of Love
BEANS
xxx”
‘A Spanner in the Works’ – Beans on Toast’s 8th Studio album, will be released on 1st December 2016 on Xtra Mile Recordings.
However, as the name may suggest, this time around he’s decided to do things a little differently.
With his unfaltering DIY ethic still at the forefront of its making, ‘A Spanner In The Works’ sees Beans embracing technology to create a record simply made on a laptop, around a mate’s house. While the new recordings still have Beans’ trademark three chord folk songs at their heart, this time around each track is layered in myriad beats, loops, synths and samples, spanning an array of genres and styles, that make for an album by Beans unlike any you’ve heard before.
Lead track and album opener and ‘2016’, lulls the listener in with a teasing taste of the familiar being the only song on the record to feature any guitar. A classic Beans song and an ode to the mood of the country in what has been a tumultuous year. With celebrity deaths, terror threats, the referendum and the worrying rise of fascism, the track’s conscious lyrics see Beans trying to make sense of the year and making a stand for what’s right and good.
“It might not be the cheeriest Beans on Toast song ever, but sadly it’s been that kind of year.” reflects Beans.
Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/hRacAqbzkbM
From then on, you can strap yourself in for a different experience all together. ‘I Can Be That Tree’ sees the synths truly kick in on a song about Beans and his wife Lizzy Bee planting a tree in a public park to celebrate their first anniversary; it’s a true digital folk love song. Elsewhere, ‘The Drum Kit’ sees Beans getting bold and brassy, on a song that bitterly tackles the issue of the increasing closure of live music venues across the country; the very same music venues that Beans has spent the last decade playing, touring and working in for nearly a decade.
Epic album closer, ‘Fast Train’, sees Beans dabbling in the forgotten art of waltz for a song that takes on the worldwide problem of gentrification, a huge subject dealt with openly and honestly, as is Beans’ usual style.
The chewing of usual cogs doesn’t stop there, however and the record features a number of special guests. House vocal diva Alex Mills enters the frame on ‘We Made It To The Waterfall’ to add some fruity doo-waps reminiscent of the Sixties Girl Group sound. Elsewhere on the record, the brilliant Matt Millership from Tensheds drops in to lay down the keys on a number of tracks throughout the album. Speaking about his valuable contribution to the record, Beans says:
“Boy can [Matt] play! His honky tonk playing on drinking song ‘Down The Pub’ is out of this world. He also contributes to ‘Nanny Mac’ a song about my Nan living in the old East End and ‘It’s Only Natural’; a new anthem for stoners.”
Most special all of all these guests perhaps though, is the appearance of Beans’ own Mum, Pauline, who takes to the mic to add her thoughts on the looming threat of climate change on ‘Fear Mongering Clap Trap’.
Recorded over a single weekend with old friend and long time collaborator Scampi Dan, the album is a fresh and different, but very much a welcome addition to the Beans On Toast catalogue.
Talking about the making of A Spanner In The Works, Beans On Toast says:
“For this album I came up with the name first and had the urge to do something little different when recording it. The idea of doing it without guitars seemed like a suitable spanner. The sounds and rhythms you can make on a computer are absolutely endless and we had a lot of fun exploring that world, as it’s interesting to see how many twisting paths a song can go down after it’s been written. I’m super proud of this album, it’s a bit different but to me it’s still folk music and it sits well with all my other albums, past and future.”
As Beans On Toast prepares to embark on his annual Winter tour of the UK, you’d be forgiven for wondering how the new set up will impact the stripped back live show we have come to know and love. Fear not, there’s no plan to start taking laptops on stage and pressing play. At the live shows the album will all be played on the usual guitar, banjo, harmonica set up, in the way they were originally written. As usual Beans doesn’t pull any punches, he says it as it is. Protest songs, heart on his sleeve love songs and social commentary that feels just like a conversation with your mates down the pub.
Beans On Toast plays:
17/11 London, Oslo
18/11 Newcastle, Cluny
19/11 Dundee, Fat Sam’s
20/11 Glasgow, Stereo
23/11 Hull, Fruit
24/11 Sheffield, The Leadmill
25/11 Liverpool, Constellations
26/11 Manchester, Gorilla
29/11 Nottingham, Bodega
30/11 Leicester, Soundhouse
01/12 Norwich, The Owl Sanctuary (SOLD OUT)
02/12 Margate, The Talking Drum
03/12 Hastings, Brass Monkey
04/12 Norwich, The Owl Sanctuary
06/12 Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
07/12 Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms
08/12 Bristol, Thekla
09/12 Swansea, The Garage
Beans on Toast’s new Album – ‘A Spanner in the Works’ – will be released on 1st December 2016.
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