The Charlatans singer Tim Burgess believes that he has written a potential number one.
The Christmas number one has a curious tradition. No other country places as much emphasis on the festive chart countdown as Britain, with most nations happy to get on with opening presents and pulling crackers.
However the British public have a special affection for the Christmas number one. In recent times the preserve of X Factor winners or a tedious backlash campaign, Tim Burgess believes that he has the answer.
Tim Burgess has been working on a number of new tracks, one of which he believes could become a smash hit. “It sounds like a Christmas Number One, it has to come out soon,” he explained.
The singer has been working with Ladyhawke. “We’ve been having a really good time on that one” he said. “It’s great, it’s really good, it has a sort of (Phil) Spector-ish, Ronettes kind of feel to it.”
Retreating to his home studio, The Charlatans singer explained that he has also been working with members of Klaxons (Steffan Halperin) and The Horrors (Josh Hayward). “Basically, Stef had just come off the back of a Japanese tour with Klaxons a couple of years ago and me and Josh were really bored in between Christmas and New Year so we just came up to the studio and started jamming on something,” he told the NME.
“We got three songs out of it in the end. They’re great. One of them – ‘Clutching Insignificance’ – sounds like Siouxsie & The Banshees, it’s a real rocker. The other stuff sounds like all three bands crushed together and some of it is quite soulful.”
The Charlatans returned earlier this year with an energetic new album, and Tim Burgess aims to follow this with a quickfire solo effort. “I think it’s more of a collaboration than a solo album,” he explained. “I feel like I’ve shared it with too many people now.”
Amongst the possible guests on the album is reclusive My Bloody Valentine guitarist Kevin Shields. “I got in touch with Kevin Shields, but he might take a while to get back to me,” he added. “He said he’d do it and I’m hoping it’ll happen before it comes out. I love Kevin, it’d be great to have him on it.”
