Andy Partridge to release new EP in July

Andy Partridge at home with his hand over his mouth

(Image credit: Kevin Nixon)

Former XTC man Andy Partridge has announced that he will release a new four track EP, My Failed Songwriting Career, through Ape House Records on July 23.

The new EP is a fascinating selection of songs resulting from Partridge’s post XTC period as a songwriter for hire writing for other artists, following the release of the band's final album Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) in 2000.

"Four brothers and sisters, happily reunited and presented as a family group aural snapshot for your entertainment and delight," says Partridge of the material.

"Songs were written. Songs were sent. Sometimes speculatively, often specifically requested, many tailor-made for an artist's requirements, but then choppy waters could still lay ahead," add Partridge's label Ape House. "Even where everyone seemed to think that newly written song A would be wonderful if recorded by singer B, whose manager C had initiated the request via music publisher D for album E on record label F...

"Still, songs are like children. A songwriter gives birth to them, feeds them, watches them grow before sending them out into the world. So it’s unfair to abandon them as orphans just because their first experience outdoors might be a traumatic one of being cold shouldered.

"As a loving parent, Andy brought them all back together, re-Andy-fied them and buffed them up in his home studio, et voila! Here is the first selection of song siblings that resulted from all of this work, four brothers and sisters, happily reunited and presented as a family group aural snapshot for your entertainment and delight.

"The story has a happy ending after all. It is almost as if The Sound Of Music had been set in Swindon."

Pre-order My Failed Songwriting Career.

Andy Partridge: My Failed Songwriting Career
1. Ghost Train
2. Great Day
3. Maid Of Stars
4. The Mating Dance

Artists

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.