The Coldest Winter for a Hundred Years (Deluxe) [VINYL]

Description

The band's third album was originally released in August 2011 and widely acclaimed as their finest. All formats feature the original album plus the Occultation singles and two previously-unreleased tracks, Maybe It's You, the first demo recorded in 2007, and Half Life, a brand new spoken-word piece complementing two others, one of which The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years gave the album its title. This moving sonic memoir of Paul's flatmate, Bunnymen drummer Pete de Freitas, has become a huge fan favourite and now makes its first appearance on an album. As was widely noted on release, the album's subject matter is Liverpool. The Wild Swans were a key part of the city's post-punk scene, forming after prime mover Paul Simpson had left The Teardrop Explodes, and releasing The Revolutionary Spirit, the last and, in Bill Drummond's words, best single on Zoo Records. This period was documented on the 2003 CD compilation Incandescent, which is also being reissued on vinyl by Vinyl180. As Paul puts it: "Making Wild Swans records has always proved a traumatic experience, not just for me but for everyone involved; musicians, producers and record labels; the risk when working with volatile elements is that people can get injured. There are always fireworks in the studio, some beautiful, some that explode in your face and some that just like there sputtering on the ground. For me, The Coldest Winter was the most emotionally explosive session by a long way, but also the most beautiful. English Electric Lightning, the song that started this project, had the working title of 'Punk Jerusalem' and, for me, that sums up the entire album; Blakean themes constrained by budget and will. Along with early anthems The Revolutionary Spirit and No Bleeding, The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years is the closest I have yet come to defining The Wild Swans."