Peter Perrett shares new David Holmes remix of "WGB/WMD"
Stream “WGB/WMD (David Holmes Remix)” here
Touring the UK next month
The Cleansing out now
Praise for The Cleansing:
“The 72-year-old former Only Ones frontman is full of joie de vivre on this wise and empathetic record” The Guardian 4* Album of The Week
“Perrett is in the form of his life” Uncut #19 Albums of the Year
“The sound of a punk survivor fully capitalising on a second chance” Mojo #19 Albums of the Year
“The Cleansing is a triumph for one of the late 70s’ most singular voices. Long may he carry on” The Observer 4*
“A superb album that is strangely hopeful in its own way” The Times 4*
“The Cleansing is a marvel” Classic Rock 8/10
At the end of last year, Peter Perrett released The Cleansing - his third album for Domino, it featured the likes of Johnny Marr, Fontaines D.C.’s Carlos O’Connell & Tom Coll, Bobby Gillespie, Dream Wife guitarist Alice Go as well as his trusted team of sons Jamie (guitar / production) and Peter Jr (bass) plus members of his live band.
Ahead of his UK tour starting next month including a show at London’s Scala, Perrett has shared a remix of his track “Women Gone Bad” by David Holmes.
The original track was named after a pulp novel featured in Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Mother Night, and was written after Perrett played a solo show in Norway’s Arctic Circle (with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck in his backing band), a region which infamously held witch trials in the 17th century: “It made me think about how society has treated any female that doesn’t conform,” says Perrett.
Under Holmes’ supervision, the original’s angular riff is twisted and scuzzed-up whilst the lines “They got a look in their eyes” and “There’s a fortune to be made” both become hypnotic anchors on the track. Sitting somewhere between Holmes’ 90s trip-hop releases and his more recent work with Unloved, the remix is a dreamlike and searching interpretation.
Watch the visuaslier for "WGB/WMD (David Holmes Remix)" here.
Stream “WGB/WMD (David Holmes Remix)” here.
The Cleansing doesn’t only match Perrett’s best work but expanded it: an ambitious double album comprising 20 songs. Perrett’s uniquely narcotic and alluring melodies, gorgeous South London drawl and ravishing rock dynamic now allied to a wider span of musical arrangements and lyrical concerns – touching on themes of art, addiction, ageing, social media and witch trials amongst others. “I know some of the subject matter is death, suicide and depression,” Perrett notes, “but I feel there is an uplifting atmosphere to the album, because I’m obviously enjoying recognising what is going on around me.”
“I feel that, the older you get, the more reflective you get,” Perrett says. “I’d always been flippant about the way I approached life, only living in the moment, but then you start to look back at the choices made. I wanted to be more focused about what I wanted to say. I’m still writing about love and the human condition, but perhaps more sentimental, and less abject cynicism, than usual. I also am more focused about the music. Before, I’d put down two guitars, bass and drums, and that was the song: I didn’t give the process much thought. But then we started opening things up.”
Stream The Cleansing here.
With The Cleansing, the saga of Peter Perrett can finally, and irrefutably, move on from his first coming with The Only Ones, one of the most distinctive and charismatic of all new wave bands with a thrilling live reputation. The band thrived from 1976 to 1981 - almost despite themselves given the drug consumption of those times, and when they finally imploded, Perrett’s increasing drug habit saw him go to ground. Perrett finally re-emerged in the mid-‘90s fronting The One, a valiant but short-lived effort to recapture former glories, and again when The Only Ones reformed in 2007, though the band only played live and never recorded a new album. Having never done things the easy way, it seemed almost like fate when the pandemic turned up the year after Humanworld was released, and given the precariousness of Perrett’s health, it was only reasonable to expect that he might not record again, and indeed, it was touch and go for a while.
The Cleansing is notable for Perrett’s observations of the world outside, written from the perspective of a man who realised how much had changed (not least himself). Cleansed, revitalised, survived: one of rock’s great non-conformists is in the form of his life, and one of rock’s great comebacks is primed to keep going.
Watch the video for “I Wanna Go With Dignity” here.
Watch the video for “Disinfectant” here.
Upcoming live dates
Wed 1st October – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
Fri 3rd October – The Globe, Cardiff
Sun 5th October – The Sugarmill, Stoke
Mon 6th October – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Tues 7th October – The Social, Hull
Thurs 9th October – The Grove, Newcastle
Sat 11th October – Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh
Sun 12th October – Bootleg Social, Blackpool
Fri 24th October – Scala, London
Tickets
The Cleansing is available to buy on DomMart-exclusive red double vinyl with exclusive print, standard double vinyl, CD and digitally. Buy: Dom Mart | Digital.
Peter Perrett Online:
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