I’M STILL BEING EDUCATED AND THERE’S STILL SONGS THAT I HEAR AND GO, ‘I’VE NEVER HEARD THAT BEFORE!’

“When we first put ‘Labour Of Love’ together, I compiled a list of about 200 songs that I thought we could cover beautifully and I’ve been mining from that list for the last four volumes of ‘Labour Of Love’,” says Robin. “We’ve done 40-odd songs from that list of

200 and one of the tunes that was still on my list that hadn’t been done was Gimme Some Kinda Sign - which I still have the 7” vinyl of from 1969 when I was a teenager!”

Matt had become aware of the track via Hepcat’s 2000 recording of the song. “It’s a real slow reggae version, which I thought could do with speeding up, so when it came to discussing cover ideas I suggested that one and Robin told me he’d wanted to do it for years,” Matt elaborates. Robin admits: “I was flabbergasted because it was actually in my collection, but Matt just loved the tune and I think it’s also indicative of how our tastes coincide. The fact that he came in and suggested the same track I’ve been talking about for decades - everybody just went, ‘OK, we’ve got to do it now’.”

It’s not only the cover that Matt brought to the table; creatively, Robin admits him joining the line-up has ushered in a new era for UB40, who are in the studio working on more new tracks when we chat. “When you’ve been doing it as long as we have, we still love doing it but it’s easy to get jaded. And I’m sure there were times when we were jaded,” he reflects. “But having Matt involved is completely reinvigorating and it’s enthused us again: we’re writing new material, he’s bringing lyrics to the band, and it’s just wonderful to have his enthusiasm. I think our experience rubs off on him and his enthusiasm rubs off on us. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”

It also helps that Matt’s a huge fan of the band’s catalogue and more than happy to tackle hits like Red, Red Wine, Food For Thought and Cherry Oh Baby on their latest LP. “From the classics, I love the new version of Sing Our Own Song,” he says of the end result. “My favourite one to sing live will

MATT DOYLE

always be Kingston Town, but I’m really happy with how I sang Sing Our Own Song on the record and, sonically, I think it sounds incredible.

“But I’m still being educated and there’s still songs that I hear and go,

‘I’ve never heard that before’,” he adds of the group’s extensive repertoire. “There’s loads of songs that I’m quite keen to sing live too.”

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More than four decades may have passed since the group started out and established a reputation for delivering punchy hits often with socio-political lyrics - and if their 21st album is anything to go by they still have plenty left to say.

“We still write about the same things that we were writing about 40 odd years ago, because we still have passions for the same things and the same things still annoy us. And Matt’s no different,” Robin maintains. “He’s angered by the same subjects as we are and he’s a similar kind of guy. We wouldn’t have invited him to join the band if he wasn’t a similar kind of person, with a similar kind of views, anyway, so it’s not like he’s brought new subject matter but he has brought a new zeal and a new enthusiasm. And he’s full of lyrics, whereas we’ve written 300 songs already!”

With so much already behind them, most bands nearing their half-century mark would be slowing down, but not UB40; there’s a UK arena tour booked in November and they plan to keep on performing for as long as possible. “The only time we ever stopped was Covid, which was a forced stoppage, but this is what we do; we record and we go back out on the road and play for people,” insists Robin. “Then as soon as we’ve done that for a year or so we get back in the studio and start again, which is the cycle that’s been going on since we started. And as long as we’re able, I can’t see us slowing down.”

Over the years, the band has sustained success in five separate decades and the musician says that’s reflected in their audience too. “We gain new audiences all the time and especially with things like social media, YouTube and Spotify, we’re constantly shocked when we go out at how many young kids there are in the front row, singing along to every song that was recorded before they were born.”

That’s the same internationally, too - “We go back to places like South America, where we haven’t been for years, and all of a sudden we’re playing enormous venues and they’re selling out,” Robin beams - but there is one place they’d like to perform. “We haven’t played mainland China and that’s something I’d love to do,” he adds. “We did Hong Kong, which was great, but it would be lovely to go and play China.”

A little closer to home, they also have their eye on a return to Glastonbury over 40 years after they last headlined the Worthy Farm event. “It would be lovely to do that again - when we did it in the ‘80s it was a much smaller event, but it was great fun,” Robin smiles.

“We’d love to do the Legends slot - that’s the one we want to do!”

● ‘UB45’ is out April 19 on SRG. Tickets for UB40’s UK arena tour, which kicks off in London on November 1, are on sale now.

EVERYTHING SEEMS TO HAVE GONE BY IN A FLASH, SO IT’S PRETTY AMAZING WHEN YOU STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT. I TRY NOT TO, REALLY!

ROBIN CAMPBELL