Withered Hand

Some Details...

WITHERED HAND
Releases New Single 'Black Tambourine'
on Fortuna POP! (UK/Europe) and Slumberland Records (US) 15 September

Listen to 'Black Tambourine' here (feel free to post!)
https://soundcloud.com/fortuna-pop/withered-hand-black-tambourine

TOUR ANNOUNCED:

Friday 10 October - PAISLEY - ARTS CENTRE
Saturday 11 October - NEWCASTLE - THE MINING INSTITUTE
Sunday 12 October - WAKEFIELD - THE HOP
Tuesday 14 October - LONDON - THE SCALA
Wednesday 15 October - NOTTINGHAM - THE MAZE
Thursday 16 October - COVENTRY - THE TIN
Friday 17 October - MANCHESTER - KRAAK

Fortuna POP! (UK/Europe) and Slumberland Records (US) are proud to announce the new single from the Edinburgh based folk-rock troubadour Dan Willson aka WITHERED HAND. Taken from his critically acclaimed second album New Gods (out now), "Black Tambourine" is purest pop song on the album, an anti-hipster anthem full of sunshine that jangles in all the right places.

Withered Hand will be touring with a full band in October, with a headline show at London's Scala as well as UK dates in Newcastle, Wakefield, Nottingham, Coventry and Manchester, as well as a show at Paisley Arts Centre. Live, Dan Willson will be joined by Pam Berry (of Black Tambourine) and his regular band, Malcolm Benzie of Edinburgh band Eagleowl (guitar & mandolin), Fraser Hughes (bass) and Alun Thomas (drums).

Active in the world of visual art and dabbling in music for many years, Dan Willson came late to singing and songwriting at age 30, in a period of reflection between the death of a close friend and the birth of his first child. The resultant material, much of which went on to become the album Good News, was praised for its depth and startling honesty and saw him embraced by Fife-based musical powerhouse the Fence Collective and his songs picked up by MTV and cult series Skins.

New Gods was released in March of this year and made No. 1 in the Official Chart Independent Album Breakers chart, No. 5 in the Record Store Chart, No. 16 in the Independent Albums Chart and No. 12 in the Scottish Albums Chart, but more than that it was a triumph of songwriting talent and superb musicianship that touched the heart of everyone that heard it. Five years on from his arrival on the scene with the brilliant but lo-fi “Good News” Dan Willson went for broke, enlisting legendary Scottish producer Tony Doogan (Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub), and a veritable who's who of Scottish music including King Creosote, Eugene Kelly of The Vaselines, and members of Belle & Sebastian and Frightened Rabbit. The result: eleven meditations on love, fidelity and transience that saw Willson’s songwriting hit dizzying heights: by turns confessional and melancholy, raucous and life-affirming; a beautifully executed collection of songs from one of Scotland’s most gifted songwriters.

Upbeat and exuberant, the song's fabulous chorus, Byrds-ian guitars and wonderful backing vocals all conspire to make Black Tambourine a worthy addition to the Scottish Pop canon and the perfect song to hear coming out of the radio on a hot summer's day.

"King Creosote, Eugene Kelly and members of Belle & Sebastian bring deep-pile, micro-orchestration to the sardonic, wistful, always finely wrought songs" (Mojo, 4/5)
“New Gods affirms Willson’s superlative abilities” – (The Skinny, 4/5)
“An unusually good album” (The Line Of Best Fit)
“Wilson is still a charmed, charming fuck-up of the first order” (Drowned In Sound, 8/10)
“Endlessly lovable stuff… zings with Teenage Fanclub-ish exuberance.” (NME, 7/10)
“An album to sink into the heart” (The Scotsman, 5/5)
“As fine a lyricist as the Isles have produced in many a year… an accomplished and polished album” (God Is In The TV, 5/5)
“The UK’s best lyricist” – King Creosote
“Killer melodies ... wobbly folk grooves ... tunes full of warm, woozy sing-song charm” - Rolling Stone