BIG BIG TRAIN GO BACK TO THE YARD
Extended, remixed version means The Underfall Yard will be on vinyl for first time.
Twelve years after its original release, pastoral proggers Big Big Train are reissuing their breakthrough album The Underfall Yard in an expanded format.
The new version will be available on April 9 as a double CD via English Electric and triple LP in a trifold cover via Plane Groovy. A limited-edition cherry cola vinyl version matching the artwork will also be on offer.
“We just missed the revived interest in vinyl, which started in about 2011, and we were always a bit miffed that it had never been released in this format,” explains Greg Spawton, co-founder, composer and bassist. “A lot of people have been asking us about a vinyl release since then. We thought we would make something more of it, making it available on vinyl as well as reissuing it on CD with some bonus material.”
He continues: “As always with us, we begin a certain thought process, then start thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be good if we did that instead?’ So, in the end, it became quite a big project as a complete remix.
“It’s very unlikely to be reissued again so we thought, ‘Let’s make this the definitive version with all that we’ve learned over the years.’”
The remix, by longtime sound engineer Rob Aubrey, is accompanied by an alternative version featuring 48 minutes of remixed or new material. It includes a previously unreleased brass prelude leading into a 2020 recording of the title track. Francis Dunnery of It Bites fame, who also appeared on the original recording, provides a new guitar solo for the updated version.
The CD also features the Songs From The Shoreline Suite, originally intended to appear on the 2009 recording. Big Big Train re-recorded Victorian Brickwork, which segues into Fat Billy Shouts Mine – a track that had only previously been available on the Far Skies, Deep Time EP.
Completing the second disc is Brew And Burgh, a new song by Spawton, which he wrote specifically as a companion composition for the album’s reissue.
Original album artist Jim Trainer has created some new images for its expanded booklet. To accompany the reissue, a lyric video of The Underfall Yard directed by Christian Rios is also available.
For more details on the new edition visit www.bigbigtrain.com. Now turn to page 107 and read our review.
“We thought, ‘Let’s make this the definitive version with all that we’ve learned.’”