PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
There are few great bands on our planet that you can infallibly identify within the first few bars of one of their songs. Their unique melodic skill, their tasteful instrumentation, the right balance of depth and catchiness, and then of course that charismatic voice: Magnum are Magnum!
The same can be said of their latest studio album ‘Here Comes The Rain’, which will be out on Steamhammer/SPV from 12 January 2024 on CD + DVD, double vinyl LP, as a box set and for digital download, proving once again that classic rock music could hardly sound more atmospheric. The band surrounding frontman Bob Catley and guitarist/songwriter Tony Clarkin are also set to release two lead singles on 24 November 2023 and 5 January 2024 and a tour has been scheduled to kick off in early April 2024 (see tour dates).
The question where songwriter Tony Clarkin continues to find motivation and ideas for new material after more than fifty years in music is easily answered: At the end of the day there’s not much that’s more satisfying for a musician than to come up with new number that you yourself really like.” Clarkin draws inspiration from a wide range of different areas: “You never quite know where or how an idea originates, but the many different countries we’ve travelled, our decades of artistic experience and also our interest in what’s happening on our planet have definitely all played a part.”
He says: “When I start to write the songs, I don´t have any fixed ideas in my head. I probably play a bit of guitar or mess around on a keyboard, sometimes I read a book and usually this gives me a place to start. But to put this into words that people can understand I just fiddle about for hours hoping something inspires me. Being a musician can be a very isolating life in that you don´t live and work like normal people do. But then I start writing and that´s MY world, that´s where I belong.”
Clarkin spent more time writing this album because the tour getting delayed due to Covid split his normal writing time into two sections. “I thought this would give me more time to do it, but I found it harder to get into a writing mindset when I was being interrupted by preparing for live shows.”
As far as subject matter is concerned, he doesn´t have a hangup with any particular topic but takes inspiration from all sorts of places. Clarkin: “Over the years hearing maybe some records that were my favourite songs at the time and then only much later did I ever discover that the meaning of the song was totally different to what I thought it was. So I´m sort of protective about explaining the meaning of songs that I´ve written because it can actually spoil a person´s enjoyment of the song, better that they find their own meaning in it.”
The album’s highly inspired artwork again is designed by the great Rodney Matthews, who has already created a number of Magnum sleeves to support the band’s atmospherically dense music. Says Clarkin: “The back of the cover features a kind of avian battalion in attack mode, which I think is a great allegory!”
“Here Comes The Rain” will be released on January 12th, 2024 through SPV/Steamhammer
You can preorder the album NOW via: https://Magnum.lnk.to/HereComesTheRain
Tracklisting:
- Run into the Shadows 5:22
- Here Comes the Rain 4:37
- Some Kind of Treachery 4:28
- After the Silence 4:34
- Blue Tango 5:26
- The Day He Lied 4:34
- The Seventh Darkness 4:41
- Broken City 4:39
- I Wanna Live 5:29
- Borderline 6:16
Apart from Magnum’s typical trademarks, ‘Here Comes The Rain’ also holds a number of thoroughly pleasant surprises in store, such as ‘Blue Tango’, which is a real riff-rock number that makes you want to move your feet. Or ‘The Seventh Darkness’ with some awesome brass sections courtesy of guest musicians Chris ‘BeeBe’ Aldridge (saxophone) and Nick Dewhurst (trumpet), which lend the song brilliance and shape. Clarkin adds: “The recordings were great fun, especially the moment when Chris’s sax took the lead and my guitar responded. A real highlight on this album!”
There can be no doubt about it: ‘Here Comes The Rain’ sees the Magnum line-up consisting of Catley, Clarkin, keyboardist Rick Benton, bassist Dennis Ward and drummer Lee Morris once again succeed in creating an outstandingly colourful, varied and inspired new studio album. “Everyone played their part without me dictating anything,” Clarkin enthuses, “everyone just instinctively played what their inspiration told them.” It’s a good thing that these superb musicians can rely on their intuition!
Line-Up:
Tony Clarkin – Guitar
Bob Catley – Vocals
Rick Benton – Keyboards
Dennis Ward – Bass
Lee Morris – Drums
MAGNUM live 2024:
04.04. DE-Mannheim – Capitol
05.04. DE-Bochum – Christuskirche
06.04. DE-Neuruppin – Kulturhaus
08.04. DE-Berlin – Metropol
09.04. DE-Hannover – Musikzentrum
10.04. DE-Hamburg – Fabrik
12.04. DE-Memmingen – Kaminwerk
13.04. CH-Pratteln – Z7
14.04. DE-Regensburg – Airport
16.04. DE-Munich – Ampere
17.04. DE-Nürnberg – Hirsch
19.04. DE-Markneukirchen – Musikhalle
21.04. SE-Malmö – Babel
22.04. NO-Oslo – John Dee
23.04. SE-Uppsala – Katalin
25.04. SE-Gothenburg – Pustervik
26.04. SE-Stockholm – Fryshuset Klubben
29.04. UK-Bristol – SWX
30.04. UK-Southampton – Engine Rooms
02.05. UK-Holmfirth – Picturedome
03.05. UK-Wolverhampton – KK’s Steelmill
04.05. UK-Nottingham – Rock City
06.05. UK-London – Islington Assembly Hall
08.05. UK-Glasgow – The TV Studio SWG3
09.05. UK-Manchester – Academy 2
11.05. UK-Belfast – Mandela Hall
