Cosmic prog trio The Utopia Strong have announced that they will release a new album, The BBC Sessions, through Rocket Recordings on March 22.
The album, which features five tracks originally recorded live for a Marc Riley session on BBC Radio 6 Music in September 2022, tips a hat to the legendary Peel Sessions releases that ran on the Strange Fruit label from 1987 until the label's demise in 2004. The series featured releases of sessions recorded for the late John Peel show from artists as diverse as Syd Barrett, Robert Wyatt, The Bonzo Dog Band, Lindisfarne, Family, Wire, Ultravox, Joy Division and more.
“When we hit a point where all three of us really had something going, we would continue while the proverbial tape was rolling,” says Kavus Torabi of the sessions. “So, the shorter pieces are the result of about ten or fifteen minutes playing that you wouldn’t have heard.”
“It was lovely working with the BBC engineers who, obviously, have their own idea as to how the band should be mixed," adds Steve Davis. "We have a fairly specific approach when we record together so I think it was quite liberating to just play and go with their sonic decisions."
You can see the new album artwork – which itself nods to those Strange Fruit releases and features a lengthy list of artists that The Utopia Strong claim have also recorded sessions – and the tracklist, below. Pre-orders for The BBC Sessions open tomorrow from the band's bandcamp page.
The Utopia Strong: The BBC Sessions tracklist
1. Minature Citadels
2. Lamp Of Glory
3. Disaster 2
4. The Tower Is Locked
5. Weather All
