Oct 5, 2020 - Message from TV:

“LOCKDOWN HOLIDAY”

I’m excited to announce the arrival of a brand new album.

To be honest, this was a record I never intended to make. At the beginning of March I was about to embark on a lengthy UK tour with Stiff Little Fingers and I had more than fifty gigs planned for the rest of the year, including some of the biggest venues I had ever played supporting Die Toten Hosen in Germany over the Summer. There was no prospect of setting time aside for writing and recording, and it was, after all, less than two years since I released “Land Of The Overdose.” Then suddenly everything changed. Even before the tour started, news of the Covid-19 virus reaching Europe arrived. After only three dates the tour was abandoned, I headed back home, the country went into lockdown, and - even worse - a couple of days later my partner Sally and I fell ill and we realised we had gone down with the Coronavirus. If Britain’s government had taken the situation seriously and put the country into lockdown a week earlier, as much of the rest of Europe had, it would never have happened. But now the damage was done.

From my sickbed I watched with utter disbelief as the mismanagement of the situation got worse and worse, and when I started to feel well enough again I did what any writer would have done: I began to write about what was happening.

The resulting album will be released on November 27th, preceded by a free double A-side video single of two of the songs, “Send In The Clown” and “I Surf The Second Wave,” available on YouTube from 9th October. Local lockdowns permitting, I will preview the songs from the album along with some old favourites live at Blackpool Winter Gardens, home of the Rebellion Festival Acoustic Stage, at two socially distanced gigs on November 6th and 7th. The Winter Gardens has been awarded the Visit England “We’re Good To Go” industry standard confirming that it complies with the Public Health Guidance on Covid-19 measures being in place to ensure a safe visit for its guests. Ticket link here: https://www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk/whats-on

The album will be released on CD and vinyl formats in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by JKP, distributed by Warners, and on CD only in the United Kingdom and rest of the world by Easy Action, distributed by Cargo. It is available to pre-order in CD format only at a discounted price on tvsmith.com from today, reverting to full price on release. Price on the webshop includes postage according to country - please choose your correct territory!

I think these are some of the most powerful and poignant songs I have ever written. I hope you agree, and enjoy my take on these extraordinary times.

TV Smith

Tracklist:

1. THE LUCKY ONES
2. BOUNCE BACK
3. ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS
4. FAKE NEWS
5. LOCKDOWN HOLIDAY
6. SEND IN THE CLOWN
7. THE RACE FOR LAST PLACE
8. JOIN THE MAINSTREAM
9. GOOD OLD DAYS
10. I SURF THE SECOND WAVE
11. GOING NOWHERE FAST