The Charlatans' new LP features Paul Weller and Johnny Marr

20 March 2017

The Charlatans' new album features collaborations with Paul Weller and Johnny Marr.

The Charlatans

The 'North Country Boy' rockers' frontman Tim Burgess has revealed the star-studded list of contributors to their forthcoming album 'Different Days'.

The track 'Spinning Out' features 58-year-old Weller's backing vocals and piano and came about after the former The Jam star sent Tim the music while he was at an airport and he wrote the lyrics immediately.

Tim says Weller "bossed him about" but he didn't mind because he's such a music legend.

Speaking on BBC Radio Six Music, about finally collaborating with his hero, he said: "Paul Weller, we co-wrote a song with Paul Weller.

"We've been wanting to write for quite a long time now, but it's got to be brilliant. The timing has to be right. So on this occasion the timing was just perfect. It was done at The Charlatans' studio and at Black Barn Studios in Surrey.

"We had a great experience making it and Paul bossed me around a little bit.

"He sent a couple of songs to me maybe like three years ago and I was at an airport. I was listening to one of the songs and wrote the lyrics there and then while I was waiting for the plane.

"I sent them to him and he loved it. It's quite soulful.

"It was just a magic moment.

"Singing with him facing me, he's just such a great guy to work with and he's such a great guy to be bossed around by."

The record features the drums of Pete Salisbury - formerly of The Verve - who has been the group's live drummer since Jon Brookes died in 2013, New Order's Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert.

Explaining each contributor, he added: "After John died we decided not to replace him on the drums. So the first port of call is always Pete Salisbury, who plays with us live. So he was our first guest.

"As we started to write more and more songs it became apparent that would like to ask Stephen Morris to play with us. So Stephen ended up playing on seven songs and Gillian from New Order also played on one. And then Kurt Wagner from Lambchop did a cameo and Nick Void from Factory Floor did some vocals and some vocal processing. And Anton Newcombe from The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Johnny Marr, who we've known since 1999, probably could have played on any of The Charlatans' records since then, but he came over to the studio for a cup of tea and I told him to bring his guitar with him and he ended up playing on three songs.

The record, the follow-up to 2015's 'Modern Nature', is slated for release on May 26.

'Different Day's track-list is as follows:

1.'Hey Sunrise' (Drums - Pete Salisbury, programming - Stephen Morris)

'Solutions' (Drums - Stephen Morris, backing vocals - Nik Void)

2. 'Different Days' (Guitar - Johnny Marr, backing vocals - Sharon Horgan)

3. 'Future Tense' (Spoken word intro by Ian Rankin)

4. 'Plastic Machinery' (Guitar: Johnny Marr and Anton Newcombe)

5. 'The Forgotten One' (Spoken word intro by Kurt Wagner)

6. 'Not Forgotten' (Guitar - Johnny Marr, organ - Anton Newcombe)

7. 'There Will Be Chances' (Drums - Pete Salisbury)

8. 'The Same House' (Synthesiser - Gillian Gilbert, drums and programming - Stephen Morris)

9. 'Over Again' (Percussion - Donald Johnson (A Certain Ratio), backing vocals - Nik Void (Factory Floor))