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Aug 30, 2018 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Wolfgang Tillmans Neneh Cherry

Neneh Cherry has announced a new album, Broken Politics, and shared a new song from it, “Shot Gun Shack.” Broken Politics is due out October 19 via Smalltown Supersound and was produced by Four Tet. It includes “Kong,” a new song she shared at the beginning of the month (it was one of our Songs of the Week). Check out “Shot Gun Shack” below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art, as well as Cherry’s upcoming tour dates.

“Shot Gun Shack” is named after a popular type of house in the Southern United States in the late 1880s and early 1990s. The song tackles gun violence and its title was inspired by a “half-remembered conversation Cherry had at the funeral of late jazz great Ornette Coleman.” As Cherry explains in a press release: “I don’t even remember who said it, but I was like, ‘Shotgun shack! That’s a cool term.’”

But Cherry explains that the song is far from lighthearted: “It’s about gun culture—the notion of war zones and the tragedies that guns bring there. The dealing of arms. Street culture. The gun is a powerful thing—dangerous, but powerful.”

Speaking of Broken Politics’ album title and the album as a whole, Cherry says in the press release: “I’m very shy about taking on big themes with the airs that I’ve got a solution—who has the fucking solutions? I like writing from a personal perspective, and the time we live in is so much about finding your own voice. People have been left feeling misheard, misunderstood, and disillusioned. What the fuck can I do? Maybe politics starts in your bedroom, or your house—a form of activism, and a responsibility. The album is about all of those things: feeling broken, disappointed, and sad, but having perseverance. It’s a fight against the extinction of free thought and spirit.”

“Kong” was co-produced by Four Tet and Massive Attack’s 3D and shared via a video directed by Jenn Nkiru (Kamasi Washington). Cherry’s last album was 2014’s Blank Project, which was also produced by Four Tet. Turner Prize winning Wolfgang Tillmans designed the Broken Politics’ cover art. The album was recorded in Woodstock, NY.

Broken Politics Tracklist:

1. Fallen Leaves
2. Kong
3. Poem Daddy
4. Synchronised Devotion
5. Deep Vein Thrombosis
6. Faster Than The Truth
7. Natural Skin Deep
8. Shot Gun Shack
9. Black Monday
10. Cheap Breakfast Special
11. Slow Release
12. Soldier

Neneh Cherry Tour Dates:

September 6, 2018 - Stockholm - Tradgarden
September 11, 2018 - Ramsgate - Music Hall (SOLD OUT)
September 12, 2018 - London - Village Underground (SOLD OUT)
September 26, 2018 - Paris - Le Cafe de la Danse (SOLD OUT)
February 14, 2019 - London - Roundhouse

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