Wedding Present ‘Lock-down’ Album Released

Scopitones released 'Locked Down And Stripped Back' by The Wedding Present on 26 February 2021.

The album was also released [on vinyl only] in North America by HHBTM Records.

'Locked Down And Stripped Back' features home recordings of several Wedding Present classics and two then previously unreleased songs: ‘You’re Just A Habit That I’m Trying To Break’ and ‘We Should Be Together’. The former is the first fruit of David Gedge's songwriting partnership with Wedding Present guitarist Jon Stewart [of Platinum-album-selling Sleeper fame] whilst the latter was originally written [but never released] by Sleeper themselves. This Wedding Present version features Louise Wener on vocals.

Track-listing: A Million Miles / California / Starry Eyed / We Should Be Together / You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends / Granadaland / You're Just A Habit That I'm Trying To Break / Crawl / Sports Car / Deer Caught In The Headlights / Blonde / My Favourite Dress

With each band member playing and filming their parts at home under lock-down restrictions, the recording process was far from easy. But the end result illustrates how The Wedding Present, along with many other artists, have adapted to the impact of COVID-19.

The album came as a 12" LP [on black or neon orange transparent vinyl] with CD included, and also as a stand-alone CD. The orange vinyl version was only available from independent record shops.

David Gedge says:

"As the summer of 2020 wore on it became increasingly obvious that 'At The Edge Of The Sea' – my annual festival in Brighton – was sadly going the way of other live music events. Following its cancellation, I decided to replace it with an ‘online’ version, presented live from my own living room and featuring home-recorded videos from many of the artists that had appeared at the festival over the years. For The Wedding Present’s contribution, we picked twelve tracks to re-work in a ‘semi-acoustic’ style, and it was interesting to see how stripped-back arrangements brought out different aspects of the songs. The 'Seamonsters' track ‘Blonde’ was a prime example of this, with a ‘just-two-guitars’ approach resulting in a naïve and stark-sounding interpretation.

"In addition to the brilliant contributions from Louise and Jon from Sleeper, my long-time writing associate Terry de Castro fired over contributions from Los Angeles and, fresh from finishing her first Such Small Hands solo album, Wedding Present bass player Melanie Howard took over lead vocals for a spine-tingling version of ‘Sports Car’."