THE BRAND NEW ALBUM, "THE UNUTTERABLE", RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 6TH AND UK TOUR

"Always being slightly crazy is one of the brilliant things about him; he is from Planet Mark. But what doesn't come over in most of the stuff you read is that he's a loveable, wonderful guy, not a curmudgeonly old git who sits in the pub and rambles on about how much he hates everything!" - Fall producer Grant Showbiz on Mark E. Smith

Released on November 6th 2000, the Fall's latest studio album "The Unutterable" is, in the view of producer, Grant Showbiz "the best thing they've done for at least a decade......"

Even though they've released in the region of 35 albums, including compilations and reissues, their influence is completely out of proportion to record sales having had only one Top 10 album with 1993's 'The Infotainment Scan'. The Fall's story has been a seamless one - they've never split, barely paused to draw breath and founder, songwriter and vocalist Mark E. Smith, famed for his half-sung, half-spoken vocal style, has been there every step of the way....

The brand new album, THE UNUTTERABLE concentrates on the band's traditional strengths: both vocal and lyrical. "I thought - in the last few records - we'd been losing the great thing about Mark - the words and the tone of his voice," says Showbiz, who ranks Mark E. Smith alongside the likes of Al Green and Captain Beefheart as one of the great voices of music.

Compared to the Fall's first album, 1979's Live At The Witch Trials, THE UNUTTERABLE was a relaxed affair. Taking around a month's studio time to come together the album was recorded in three different locations - the first being the Fall's own Sonic Surgery, ('Way Round' and 'Hands Up Billy'). The majority was done in Testa Rossa, a trance music studio in Longsight, Manchester, while vocals, guitar and keyboard overdubs were completed at Showbiz's own Street Level 2 in Tottenham.

Among the 15 tracks which make up THE UNUTTERABLE look no further than the opener, 'Cyber Insekt' (showcasing the more poppy side of the Fall and featuring Kazuko Hohki from the Frank Chickens) as far as future classics are concerned. Elsewhere on the album there's the wonderfully titled 'Pumpkin Soup & Mashed Potatoes' as well as the obligatory couple of political rants including 'Sons Of Temperance', (a punk-style thrash with lyrics depicting a crypto fascist state where you've got to be sober or face being arrested), and a comment on the devolution process called, logically enough, 'Devolute'. But there's enough balance elsewhere to make this the most optimistic Fall album for a long time.

Alongside Smith (vocals, songs) are Julia Nagle (keyboards), Neville Wilding (guitar), Adam Halal (bass) and Tom Head (drums) - almost as stable a Fall line-up as has recently been seen. Adam and Neville appeared on last year's The Marshall Suite, which saw them finding their feet with the band, and have now come into their own. "If they're smart and they're clever they'll stay together; they've got a great thing going on," comments their producer who, on the strength of this "would love to be doing the next one. In fact, Mark phoned me at 1.30 last night with an exciting new idea!"

But that's all in the future; THE UNUTTERABLE is the present, and it's nothing less than riveting. Then again, this is the Fall: dare you expect less?

The album starts with Cyber Insekt, written by Julia, which is about the virtual world of communication. There was a plan behind this: to work it live, rather than program it. It's bubbly.

Second track is Two Librans, and is a thrashy kind of vibe, with M.E.S. in snarly mode. Neville Wilding is the man behind this tune - he wrote it, and it's typical of his guitar style. It's about:

'Two Librans
High and low in mind
To Oprah Winfrey she studied bees

Two librans
Reflect'

Next up, track 3 is WB, inspired by William Blake's poetry. It's a musical minestrone: swishy synth pads, 4 note gtr ditty repetition, full of interesting musiconia appearing and disappearing.

Track 4 is Sons Of Temperance, and has a throbbing bass synth through the verses, with M.E.S. sounding like a disciplining parent. Then the chorus changes dramatically and is sung softly, words about 'sweet silence', and is quite breathtaking.

Track 5 is Dr Buck's Letter, one of my personal favs. Adam Helal is responsible for this one composed on pro tools - it's a musical masterpiece with slow, low bass loops. Lyrically it's about a friend, a doctors letter and a magazine interview with a DJ. Curious.

Track 6 is Hot June. This is another of Neville's rock'n'roll tunes, and works well with this summery tone of the lyrics.

Track 7 is Way Round, (AKA 'roundabout' by Fall devotees who have heard it played live). Composed on pro tools by Adam and Nev, it has some nice sequencers gurgling through it, with M.E.S having trouble finding his way round, lost in a disco. Brill.

Track 8 starts with an introduction to The Ketisons, with Tom's Octopad running behind the commentary. It then crosses into a poem about the lesser qualities of family life, and finally resolves into Ketamine Suns, a ballad, with a melodium running through the verses. This was Grant Showbiz's idea - it's an amazing instrument, a keyboard, with these huge tape loops of choirs. This is another of my personal favourites.

That's all for now!

The Fall's new album, The Unutterable, was released by Eagle Records on 6 November 2000.

Order the album here with Action Records. Reasonable prices, great service to UK & abroad, and they'll give you 10% off if you say you came thru The Fall's website

The Fall are:

Tom Head
Adam Helal
Julia Nagle
Mark E Smith
Nev Wilding

Kill that cough,
O' Amorphous blobs!
IT is M.E. to answer,
All your moribund questions.
As promised.