CHUMBAWAMBA are celebrating the completion of their tenth album with a string of shows across the UK early next year.
The anarchic group, which boasts four members from Burnley, are also busy putting the finishing touches to a film soundtrack.
Providing the score for Alex Cox's new film, 'Revenger's Tragedy'-- which stars Eddie Izzard -- has rounded off an excellent 12 months for the band.
Earlier in the year they took the Audience Award, at the Leeds Film Festival, for their documentary, 'Well Done....Now Sod Off'.
The film provided insight into the history of Chumbawamba and gave their many critics the chance to say exactly why they loathed the group and their politics.
The eight piece have also found the time to produce their new studio album. Recorded in a holiday cottage in Giggleswick, 'Readymade' is a clean break musically, from any of their previous work.
The high paced, 'in your face' tunes of 'Tub Thumping' and 'WYSIWYG', are replaced with back beats and folk samples, as diverse as Eliza Carthy and Woodie Guthrie.
But even as they slow things down the political messages are among the band's most poignant to date.
Singer Alice Nutter, one of the band's Burnley quartet, said: "It's got dance beats with folk influences over the top-- but it's not twee folk, it's got real guts."
Having encamped in the cottage for a number of long weekends, the singer revealed they'd made the most of the remote location.
She said: "We had a great time making the record, we worked all day and drank all night." In America the album is scheduled to be out early next year on the Universal label. Closer to home they are currently in discussion with labels for its European release.
And having spent most of this year in the studio writing, they are now eager to return to the live circuit.
Dunstan Bruce said: "We realised that one of the things we loved most about being in the band was an evening out with the audience. So we decided we'd better start playing again before we all went a bit Mariah Carey."
Always a high energy and colourful experience, the opening night in Leeds is as close to Burnley as the tour comes.
But playing at the Irish Centre on February 7 on the exact day of 20th anniversary since their very first gig promises to be an extra special event.
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