Sam Lee teams up with Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins) on ‘The Moon Shines Bright’, new album ‘Old Wow’ out January 31st
18 November 2019Sam Lee has released a new single, ‘The Moon Shines Bright’, featuring a rare guest appearance from renowned vocalist Elizabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins). It is the second track to emerge from Mercury Prize-nominee Lee’s forthcoming third album, ‘Old Wow’, due for release on January 31, 2020 via Cooking Vinyl. Produced by Bernard Butler (Suede, McAlmont & Butler), ‘Old Wow’ follows Sam’s Mercury-nominated/Arts Foundation Award-winning debut, ‘Ground of Its Own’ (2012), and 2015’s equally acclaimed ‘The Fade in Time’. Today ‘The Moon Shines Bright’ arrives via a live session video featuring Elizabeth, Sam and Bernard and shot at London’s RAK Studios, you can check out the video via Clash Magazine here: https://www.clashmusic.com/news/sam-lee-duets-with-elizabeth-fraser-on-the-moon-shines-bright
As well as that Sam will embark on a 16-date UK tour in support of the record in early 2020, including a show at London’s EartH on February 17th. The full list of tour-dates can be found below. He’s also just announced further 2020 dates for his ‘Singing With Nightingales’ project, which aims to raise awareness around protection for the endangered species. Sam was also heavily involved in the London XR protests this winter, and his writing appears in new climate anthology ‘Letters To The Earth’ which also features Yoko Ono and Kate Tempest.
Sam describes his new single as “A gentle yet potent wake up call to recognise the beauty of life in its purest form”. Fittingly then, it features the rare and remarkable vocals of Fraser, which perfectly complement Sam’s rich, clear tones. Unbeknownst to Sam, Elizabeth had attended several of his gigs before an introduction was made and their shared love for traditional music quickly became apparent. Sam later invited Elizabeth to sing on this song – she replied ‘Yes, leave it with me’. When he later received her recording, Lee recalls; ‘I couldn’t sleep that night. I was just listening to it over and over again. It’s just sublime’.
Speaking about the timely arrival of ‘The Moon Shines Bright’ which lands as Christmas is inching nearer, Lee says; “The song originated as an English Gypsy Christmas Carol taking root at least as far back as the 1700s, and was collected almost exclusively from the Gypsy community. It has all the hallmarks of an ancient proto-religious song that has more recently shed lots of the more Christian meanings to connect in with a more animistic relationship to the winter solstice time”.
TOUR DATES
29 January 2020 Glasgow Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (Strathclyde Suite)
31 January 2020 Newcastle Cluny
01 February 2020 Manchester Night and Day
03 February 2020 Nottingham Rescue Rooms
04 February 2020 Leeds City Varieties
05 February 2020 Birmingham Glee
06 February 2020 Exeter Phoenix
07 February 2020 Bodmin St Petroc’s Church
08 February 2020 Lyme Regis Marine Theatre
10 February 2020 Cambridge Junction 2
13 February 2020 Brighton St George’s
15 February 2020 Canterbury Gulbenkian Theatre
16 February 2020 Norwich Open
17 February 2020 London EartH
19 February 2020 Bristol St George’s
21 February 2020 Cardiff The Gate
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