January 8, 2003 12:31

NEW STRUMMER ALBUM WAS UNDER WAY

A third LP with the Mescaleros was planned before the singer's untimely death...

JOE STRUMMER was working on an album of brand new songs at the time of his sudden death.

With his final band The Mescaleros, Strummer recorded and released two albums, 1999's 'Rock Art & The X-Ray Style', and 2001's 'Global A Go-Go'.

NME can reveal that Strummer had also been working on the follow-up in the months preceding his death late last year. On their final club tour of the
UK, Strummer had been performing a number of unreleased songs, with working titles including 'Get Down Moses', 'Guitar Slinger Man', 'Dakar Meantime' and 'Coma Girl' - the latter being singled out as one of the best. The group had also been performing a cover of The Stooges' '1969', and at the time of his passing Strummer was scheduled to team up with Bono to record a new song for the forthcoming Nelson Mandela-organised AIDS Awareness concert in South Africa.

During December, Strummer And The Mescaleros> were scheduled to go into a studio to do more work on a new album, currently untitled, which was tentatively scheduled for release this Spring. However, it remains unclear how much progress was made and how many new songs were committed to tape in a releasable form.

In the coming months, decisions will have to be made on what, if any classic Clash
songs or new Strummer material is released. Recent posthumous releases have come from Ian Dury, George Harrison, Nirvana and[a][/a].