Beloved alt-rock songwriter Jamie Lenman is gearing up for the release of a new EP on May 5th. It’s called ‘Iknowyouknowiknow’ and will be released through Big Scary Monsters.
To give fans a taster, Lenman has shared a new track – ‘Crazy Horse’.
“this EP is about accepting that your life is finite, that there probably isn’t anything afterwards”
On the track, Lenman explained how ‘Crazy Horse’ isn’t your typical Jamie Lenman number. “’Crazy Horse’ is one of those songs that didn’t really sound like me—in fact it sounds a lot more like my buddy Frank Turner—but then this whole project is about songs that don’t really sound like me, so perhaps ‘Crazy Horse’ is the best example of that.”
Jamie also commented on a theme that last year’s album, ‘The Atheist’, and ‘Iknowyouknowiknow’ ties the two together – mortality. “A lot of my songs are about death and how small we all are in the big scheme of things, but I don’t think I’ve ever managed to make that concept sound happier than I have on ‘Crazy Horse’, and for me, that’s a big achievement,” he says.
“The whole point of ‘The Atheist’ and now this EP is about accepting that your life is finite, that there probably isn’t anything afterwards, and accepting that fact in a positive light. So that’s what ‘Crazy Horse’ is: they’re gonna keep carving that statue after you’re gone, and it’s going to be beautiful.”
Watch the animated video for ‘Crazy Horse’ from New York Times illustrator Michael Parkin
The single also sees Lenman once again team up with New York Times illustrator Michael Parkin. Having created the artwork for ‘Iknowyouknowiknow’ and ‘The Atheist’, Jamie wanted to utilise Parkin’s work and turn it into an animation.
“I had a whole shoot planned where we were going to go up to a mountain and film with a drone and I was going to sculpt my own version of the statue,” explains Lenman, “but it just kept getting more and more complex, and on the other hand I was secretly bummed out that I hadn’t done any animation work in a while, which I really enjoy. So in a lightning-rod moment, I realised that if I sacked off the film shoot and made an animated video myself, that would solve both problems. I’d had it in the back of my mind ever since I saw Parkin’s lovely illustrations that I’d like to make them all move somehow, but I forgot about it when everything got going, so revisiting that idea was a total joy.”
What are the full details of Jamie Lenman’s new EP – ‘Iknowyouknowiknow’?
As stated above, ‘Iknowyouknowiknow’ by Jamie Lenman will be released on May 5th through Big Scary Monsters.
The six-track release was produced and mixed by Mark Roberts at The Old Chapel in Chichester, Chris Coulter at Decimal Studios, and by Lenman at his home. He considers the set as a “funny little gang” and less cohesive than ‘The Atheist’ LP, yet calls the EP a “worthy companion”.
1. Words Of Love
2. Crazy Horse
3. Run Right Home
4. The Last Supper
5. I Done Things I Ain’t Proud Of
6. This Town Will Never Let Us Go (Acoustic Mix)
When is Jamie Lenman on tour?
Jamie Lenman is scheduled to mark the release of ‘Iknowyouknowiknow’ with several UK shows, including appearances at Takedown Festival in Portsmouth and Strangeforms Festival in Leeds.
April
8th Takedown Festival @ Guildhall, Portsmouth
15th, Strangeforms Festival @ Brudenell Social Club Leeds
May
4th Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool
5th Sugarmill, Stoke
6th Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
10th Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes
11th The Cluny 2, Newcastle
17th The Fleece, Bristol
18th The Junction, Plymouth
19th Powerhaus, London
