Fiery folk-rockers The Levellers return to Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall on Thursday March 6 as part of Beautiful Nights, a tour to mark the band’s 20th anniversary.
Over the course of a prolific career, they have attracted legions of loyal followers, not just in their home town of Brighton but in the West Midlands, too.
“When we first started out, 90% of our audience was in the Midlands,” explains bassist Jeremy Cunningham.
“There was more interest in us here than anywhere, so we have a special fondness for the area and we’ve kept coming back to the Civic ever since.”
Their edgy new show will combine a fast-paced mix of projected imagery with rousing tracks from their forthcoming album Letters from the Underground.
The album also features their eagerly-awaited double A-side single - A Life Less Ordinary and The Cholera Well (now available to download for free), described as a “sizzling, massive hit” by Chris Evans on Juke Box Jury.
Both tracks are being hailed as a return to true form for the band, embracing their explosive punk-rock sound and haunting folk melodies.
“It’s very fast and noisy,” enthuses Jeremy.
“We’ve gone back to our roots with upfront, energetic, more overtly political songs, bringing in raw electric guitars at full pelt.”
The Levellers have always been associated with politics and are known for their outspoken views, but Jeremy explains it is less of a crusade and more an effort to raise awareness of the problems in our world today.
“World issues aren’t really addressed in the music of today, and yet it’s such a good platform to raise awareness of the problems we have at the moment with Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the situation in Darfur a few months back.”
Their new album was produced by Sean Lakeman, the wizard behind Mercury Music Prize-nominated brother Seth’s spellbinding Freedom Fields and a long-time touring companion of the band.
“We’ve played a lot with Sean in the past,” says Jeremy.
“So working with him in the studio was great.
“He’s a hard taskmaster and he took us out of our comfort zone, but we’re really happy with the result.”
The Levellers have also pioneered their own sell-out festival held at Escott Park in Devon.
“We started the event because we didn’t feel V and Glastonbury gave the same festival experience as the freaky, psychedelic ones we used to go to at places like Stonehenge, and we wanted to go back to that.”
Their Beautiful Days Festival is now in its sixth year and has featured a line-up ranging from KT Tunstall to Echo and the Bunnymen.
Jeremy says: “It’s going to be a busy year!”
To book tickets for the Civic Hall performance click here and for more information click here.
Pictures courtesy of Ami Barwell
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