James Dean Bradfield announces second solo album with lead single "The Boy From The Plantation"

"The Boy From The Plantation" is the third single to be shared from Even In Exile, after last week's "There'll Come A War" and "Seeking The Room With The Three Windows".

Even In Exile features songs that are loosely based around the life and death of Chilean poet/singer/activist Victor Jara, and follows on from Bradfield's 2006 debut The Great Western.

Bradfield says of his new album, "Sometime at the start of 2019, Patrick [Jones, poet/playwright] gave me a handful of poems each of which touched on different aspects of Victor Jara’s life. When I read them, I was struck by the idea that if a life means anything, it will continue after death. That thought stuck with me and made me want to turn Patrick’s words into a record."

"One of the reasons Victor’s story chimed deeply - then and now - because as with so many other politically active people’s stories from that era, it results in death," adds Bradfield. "The idea now that freedom of political thought might end in death is still too shocking to contemplate, yet we live in an age where oppositional politics leads to untold bitterness and a total lack of empathy, compromise or respect. It is so destructive, I think this period of history points to so much that’s relevant right now. And again and again, his voice returns. At the end of 2019 when I was finishing the record, people were gathering at Plaza Italia in Santiago and singing his songs at a mass protest against the government. His voice is an echo that inspires trust and guidance. Through reinvestigating his music I’ve learnt that music that is politically motivated doesn’t necessarily need to be polemic punishment, it can be poetic, personal and musically transcendent."

Bradfield explains, "Growing up, Victor Jara’s name was regularly heard in music. It seemed to have a global recognition through songs by artists like The Clash, Simple Minds, Working Week and Calexico. And that carries on. Springsteen covered one of his songs recently. In terms of creating art about an artist, I was inspired by the album Mermaid Avenue by Wilco and Billy Bragg. That record took the words of Woody Guthrie and presented them in a different context, creating a loving act of artistic archeology and a fitting tribute to a great mind."

Tracklist:

1. Recuerda
2. The Boy From The Plantation
3. There'll Come A War
4. Seeking The Room With The Three Windows
5. Thirty Thousand Milk Bottles
6. Under The Mimosa Tree
7. From The Hands Of Violeta
8. Without Knowing The End (Joan's Song)
9. La Partida
10. The Last Song
11. Santiago Surprise