Maccabees To Re-Issue Album

With Roots Manuva collaboration

Brighton based indie troupe The Maccabees are set to re-issue their latest album ‘Wall Of Arms’.

2009 has been a year dominated by great second albums. Noah And The Whale demonstrated their orchestral splendour while The Horrors showed a renewed ambition after the still born failure of their debut LP.

However perhaps one of the greatest comebacks of the year came from The Maccabees. The Brighton based group recorded their debut album in an abandoned swimming pool, but went for a much more lush dynamic on their latest effort.

Released earlier this year, ‘Wall Of Arms’ was a stunning artistic success. With a vastly increased orchestral muscle the album spawned several singles, including ‘No Kind Words’.

Attracting across the board praise the band were contacted by an unexpected source. British hip hop guru Roots Manuva was a fan of their material, and soon the pair had hooked up in the studio.

Re-working ‘No Kind Words’ into ‘Empty Vessels’ the track demonstrated just how flexible The Maccabees really were. Due to be added to a re-issued version of their album, the expanded ‘Wall Of Arms’ is set to be released on February 1st.

However in a new interview Roots Manuva has revealed that the collaboration almost didn’t happen. “The record label didn’t like it,” he explained to the NME.

“But there’s a line that goes, ‘Dear friend of mine, lost his religion’. I made that the chorus and added two verses of rap. It started off as a remix clash thing. It’s supposed to be a lawless thing.”

The Maccabees have also decided to include a cover of Roy Orbison’s ‘I Drove All Night’ plus three B-sides: ‘Sleep Tonight’, ‘Accordion Song’ and ‘Hearts That Strangle’.

The Maccabees are due to release the expanded ‘Wall Of Arms’ on February 1st.

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