By Medha Godbole Singh
Book and music lovers will soon be in for a treat thanks to a music album which has the best of both. The Bookshop Band will be teaming with former bookshop owner Pete Townshend on a unique music album inspired by books. Some of these books include Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust. Some other books which inspired the album are Underland by Robert Macfarlane, The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell, The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel, Orphans of the Carnival by Carol Birch, The Vanishing Hours by Barney Norris, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.
The album, called Emerge, Return and produced by Townshend, is scheduled for a 28 June release, just after Independent Bookshop Week. The fourteenth album for the band, its name draws from Robert Macfarlane’s Underland. Recorded at Pete’s Upper Woody Studios, the album comprises of twelve songs written by Ben Please and Beth Porter. Themes such as oppression of bodies, free will and free speech will be explored through the tracks.
Talking about the album and the band, Townshend stated that each song was special in its own way. He has also donned the role of guest musician for all the tracks.
Ben Please opined that Townshend brought his great musicality and experience to the recording process and offered a different perspective on the songs. Please has said that Emerge, Return, one of the band’s darker albums, embodies the response of two songwriters triggered by the books they have read. These songs have been described by him as inseparable synergy between the story and its reader along with being steered by the journey of the band.
The Bookshop Band was formed when a group of musicians and Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath got together. They respond to the books they read by writing songs and performing for bookshop audiences across the UK, America and Europe. This will be their first commercial release.
Fans can also look forward to a podcast series discussing the books that inspired the songs and a seventy date UK tour taking place mostly in independent bookshops.
The Bookshop Band's upcoming album, blending music and literature, is a must-listen for book lovers. Their unique sound paired with a concert tour in independent bookshops makes it even more exciting.
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