Balaam And The Angel Celebrate 40th Anniversary With Release Of Brand New Material
25th September 2024Balaam And The Angel are three brothers who were born in Scotland and grew up on a council estate in Cannock in Staffordshire. They played music together as teenagers but finally formed Balaam And The Angel in the early 80’s inspired at that time by the new scene that was developing around Bauhaus, The Sisters Of Mercy, Southern Death Cult, Theatre Of Hate etc. and a collective experience at the Futurama Festival in Bingley Hall, Stafford in 1981. The band achieved great success in the 80s alternative and rock scenes, signing to Virgin Records for their debut album ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’, and touring the world with the likes of The Mission, Kiss, The Cult, Aerosmith and Iggy Pop until the release of their last album ‘Prime Time’ in 1993.
That period up to the present day has seen some intermittent activity from the band. All three of the brothers have taken time out to explore and develop successful careers outside of the music industry, have families etc, whilst at the same time maintaining some visibility with their very loyal UK fan base through social media and carefully selected performances and tours. The level of interest in Balaam And The Angel (and the early 80s alternative scene) has increased considerably in the last decade making the purpose of a new release seem much more relevant.
On Friday 25th October, Balaam And The Angel will release ‘Forces Of Evil’, a collection of recently recorded songs to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s first 4 track EP World Of Light (released in Nov 1984). It is the first release of new material for over 30 years.
The EP will be released in the same format as its predecessor as a 4 track 12 inch single. There will be an option of a coloured vinyl or a vinyl picture disc. This will be the only physical format that will be released (there will be no CD or cassette). Fans will not be able to access a digital version until Friday 1st November when the songs will be released onto all the usual digital and streaming platforms.
The record will be released on the band’s newly created Darklands Recordings label (Darklands being one of the tracks that appeared on the 1984 EP).
The material was recorded in Oxygene studios Manchester with Christoph Bride (who has recently worked on albums by The Chameleons and Kirk Brandon/Theatre Of Hate/ Spear Of Destiny). The sound of the record marries the feel of the bands darker past with the punchier edge of their later releases.
The four tracks on the EP have been written by the band and demonstrate a more developed approach to the lyrical content which embraces some of the bands more common themes about how we navigate our daily lives alongside some more provocative themes such as mental health and the contradiction between religious belief vs religious intolerance and the way in which this are used as one of the reasons for the persecution of others.
“The process of creating this collection of songs has been incredibly unique and has prompted us to revisit some previously overlooked ideas. The track ‘Forces Of Evil’ had its origins way back in the start of our musical journey. It was a song that we had set aside because the lyrics seemed too naïve and simplistic however fast forward four decades and we have a set of lyrics and sentiment that could not be more current and universally appropriate,” says guitarist Jim Morris.
The band will go on tour in November to support the release of the EP taking in 8 cities throughout the UK (see below for tour dates). It is the first major outing since the “1984 – 1988 Singles And More” tour in April 2018.
The band has continued to perform intermittently since then choosing to play carefully selected headline shows and special events such as Tomorrows Ghosts Festival, Kirk Brandon Westworld Weekend, The Mission Shindig and most recently as a special guest on the sold-out Almighty shows (Nov 2023).
Balaam And The Angel are one of the very few bands who can still claim to have maintained their original line up. They are three brothers born in Scotland and raised in the West Midlands.
Forces Of Evil track-listing:
1. Dancing Senseless
- Forces Of Evil
- Feel The Silence
- Afterlife
Pre-order ‘Forces Of Evil’ HERE:
Catch Balaam And The Angel live at the following dates:
Fri 8th Nov: Leamington Spa Assembly Hall
Sat 9th Nov: Reading Face Bar
Thurs 14th Nov: London Islington The Garage
Thurs 21st Nov: Glasgow Room 2
Fri 22nd Nov: Sheffield Network
Sat 23rd Nov: Hull The New Adelphi
Thurs 28th Nov: Birmingham Castle And Falcon
Fri 29th Nov: Bedford Esquires
Ticket links for all shows can be found via the band’s website: www.balaamandtheangel.co.uk
Balaam And The Angel are:
Mark Morris – bass/vocals
Jim Morris – guitar/keyboards
Des Morris – drums
