Bill Ryder Jones’ West Kirby County Primary saw the Wirral songwriter fall in love with his distortion pedal again, and simultaneously showed him to be one of the UK’s most innovative songwriters.
Part Ray Davies, part Thurston Moore, it was one of 2015’s best albums, and today we’re bigging up a track from the newly-released bonus version of it. ‘Out Of The Dark’ has all the hallmarks of West Kirby’s finer moments – bruised guitars and battle-weary vocals intertwine, while a strong sense of melody holds it all together. Check it out, and below that see Bill’s tour dates and the tracklisting of the new version of the album.
Bill Ryder Jones on tour:
Thurs 3rd Mar 2016 – Scala, London
Fri 4th Mar 2016 – Deaf Institute, Manchester
Sat 5th Mar 2016 – Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
Tues 8th Mar 2016 – Stereo, Glasgow
Thurs 10th Mar 2016 – Arts Club, Liverpool
Fri 11th Mar 2016 – Moon Club, Cardiff
Sat 12th March – Workman’s Club, Dublin, Ireland
Thurs 17th March – Sidecar, Barcelona, Spain
Fri 18th March – Astillero Ondartxo, San Sebastian, Spain
Sun 20th March – Las Armas, Zaragoza, Spain
Thurs 7th May – Hartwell Arena, Helsinki, Finland
Mon 9th May – Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden
Tues 10th May – Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
Thurs 12th May – Forum, Copenhagen, Denmark
Fri 13th May – Barclaycard Arena, Hamburg, Germany
Sat 14th May – ISS Dome, Düsseldorf, Germany
Mon 16th May – Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland
Tues 17th May – Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany
Thurs 19th May – Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
Fri 20th May – O2 Arena, Prague, Czech Republic
Sun 22nd May – Zenith, Paris, France
Mon 23rd May – Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tues 24th May – Sportpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium
Sat 4th June – Lunar Festival, Tanworth in Arden
Sun 4th Sept – End of The Road Festival, Dorset
Fri 7th Oct – Rockaway Beach Festival, Bognor Regis
West Kirby County Primary (Bonus Edition) tracklisting:
1. Tell Me You Don’t Love Me Watching
2. Two To Birkenhead
3. Let’s Get Away From Here
4. Daniel
5. Put It Down Before You Break It
6. Catharine and Huskisson
7. Wild Roses
8. You Can’t Hide A Light With The Dark
9. Satellites
10. Seabirds
11. Out of the Dark (Bonus Edition)
12. Even Good Things Break My Heart (Bonus Edition)