Johnny Marr, Bobby Gillespie, Fontaines D.C. and Dream Wife feature on Peter Perrett forthcoming album, The Cleansing

05 August 2024, 15:00 | Written by Tyler Damara Kelly

(News)

(Peter Perrett) (Johnny Marr) (Bobby Gillespie) (Fontaines DC) (Dream Wife)

Peter Perrett has announced his third studio album, The Cleansing, and shares lead single, “I Wanna Go With Dignity”.

Alongside his trusted team of sons Jamie (guitar / production) and Peter Jr (bass) plus members of his live band, Perrett is assisted by a roster of starry guests including Johnny Marr, Bobby Gillespie, Fontaines D.C.’s Carlos O’Connell and Dream Wife guitarist Alice Go, the album touches on themes of art, addiction, ageing, social media and witch trials amongst others. “I know some of the subject matter is death, suicide and depression,” Perrett notes, “but I feel there is an uplifting atmosphere to the album, because I’m obviously enjoying recognising what is going on around me.”

“I Wanna Go With Dignity” is dedicated to the late Fiona H Stevenson (AKA Fay Wolftree), and its lyric was part-inspired by the late David Cavanagh, both of whom interviewed Perrett. One of the eight tracks on the album that feature Bobby Gillespie and Carlos O’Connell, Gillespie also appears in the video directed by Douglas Hart.

“Something inside me would like to make my best-ever album,” Peter Perrett said in 2007. “Seeing Johnny Cash doing his best work right at the end, makes me feel like just because I’m old doesn’t mean I’m useless.”

Following the second coming of its two predecessors – both unexpected given his 2017 solo debut How The West Was Won was Perrett’s first album in almost 30 years whilst his pattern of vanishing from sight was broken by 2019’s follow-up Humanworld – The Cleansing doesn’t only match his best work but expands it: an ambitious double album comprising 20 songs.

Alongside the album announcement, Perrett has confirmed a special intimate show at London’s Moth Club on 19 October.

Tracklist:

1. I Wanna Go With Dignity
2. Disinfectant
3. Fountain Of You
4. Secret Taliban Wife
5. Solitary Confinement
6. Women Gone Bad
7. Survival Mode
8. Mixed Up Confucius
9. Do Not Resuscitate
10. The Cleansing
11. All That Time
12. Kill A Franco Spy
13. Set The House On Fire
14. Feast For Sore Eyes
15. There For You
16. Art Is A Disease
17. World In Chains
18. Back In The Hole
19. Less Than Nothing
20. Crystal Clear