When: 7.30pm on Friday 13 July 2018
Where: The Peer Hat, 14-16 Faraday Street, Manchester M1 1BE

PLEASE NOTE: This show is sold out! You can still pre-order the forthcoming album for complimentary guestlist (details below) – or if any final tickets do become available, we’ll announce via Twitter and Facebook. Alternatively, BC Camplight plays Gorilla on 10 October – read more and book now.

BC Camplight will be performing the forthcoming album Deportation Blues at a undisclosed intimate Northern Quarter venue on Friday 13 July. Book tickets below and you will be notified of the location on the day itself – or get complimentary guestlist by pre-ordering the album. Full details below.

BC Camplight returns this summer with Deportation Blues, his second album for Bella Union, available from 24 August.

‘You shouldn’t have a tough time finding the angle to Deportation Blues,’ claims Brian ‘BC Camplight’ Christinzio. ‘The past few years have been a fucking nightmare.’

But what a f*cking great record he’s made off the back of his nightmare… Deportation Blues is an exhilarating, dynamic document of calamity and stress, relayed through richly melodic and bold arrangements spanning singer-songwriter classicism, gnarly synth-pop, 1950s rock’n’roll and various junctures between, mirroring their maverick creator’s jarred emotions and fractured mindset.

Back in early 2015, after years battling battling addiction and mental illness, and having relocated from the US to Manchester, BC Camplight released the album How To Die In The North to rave reviews and the future was looking bright. So imagine his mood when he immediately fell foul of UK immigration: ‘I’d had such high hopes for the album, and I was told I was being deported two days after it came out, and banned from the UK. The next thing I know, I’m playing Pac Man in my parents’ basement in New Jersey, thinking, this is my life now.’

Occasional gigs in Europe, where his Manchester-based band could meet him, broke up the monotony, but it was still like ‘living in a constant panic attack’.

But then the cavalry arrived! Courtesy of his grandparents, Christinzio secured Italian citizenship. It cost time, money and a portion of his sanity, ‘but after a year and a half I could finally shove my Italian papers in their faces at the airport and return to sunny Manchester. The thing is, despite being American, I feel Mancunian, and I couldn’t think about making another record, until I got back.’

To add insult to injury, ‘Brexit happened, like a day after I got back. Can I get a f*cking break here, please?’

Once the dust had settled, Christinzio realised, ‘I didn’t feel any better, I had so much anger, I felt destroyed. The demons were back and had lost me friends, I’d drunk too much, and I felt nothing but dread and disease. I thought, I can’t wait to hear what this next album is going to sound like.’

Recording in Liverpool’s Whitewood studios, Christinzio locked himself in the windowless studio and recorded almost exclusively in the dark. ‘The thoughts and sounds that began to flow out of me were pretty scary. I’m pretty sure the engineer started carrying a shiv in his pocket after about the second day. Nothing playful sounding came out. If the last album had elements of whimsy, the thought of any on this album made me want to vomit.’

Christinzio recorded the album mostly on his own, plus drummer Adam Dawson, vocalist Ali Bell aka pal, occasional guitar by Robbie Rush, and a couple of session horn players. Future single I’m Desperate is ‘an ominous synth burner,’ says Christinzio, with a Suicide-style throb and Bell’s haunting counterpoint that underlines the album’s manic, careering edge, fantastic hooks and instrumental verve.

The album’s title-track opener is similarly uncompromising. Bookended by metallic power chords, cascading synths and a gorgeous downbeat mood lead into slower doo-wop complete with howling falsetto. ‘It’s instantly a different, darker record than How To Die In The North,’ Christinzio notes.

Deportation Blues is also noticeably more electronic than its predecessor. ‘I was feeling cold so every time something sounded pretty, I replaced it with something that sounded like an ice pick. The apocalyptic nuclear feel really appealed.’

Though Christinzio points out ‘this is no redemption I-saw-the-light story,’ he is allowing himself a little bit of hope for once: ‘I’ve never been as pleased with where I am artistically as I am right now.’

Main support comes from The Jungfraus. Garage-rock, dole-queue psychedelia from The Cavern Club to LA’s Bar Lubbitz, these unassuming gentlemen bring you songs of chaos, magick, murder and obsession. Showcasing material from their forthcoming third album, The Jungfraus have been quietly tearing up Manchester’s, underground music venues for some time with their delightful collection of aural gems.

Opening the show is Inland Taipan. Taking her name from what is considered the most venomous snake in the world, Inland Taipan’s performance has parallels to the fierce reptile. Her songs give glimpse to a dark soul. Reminiscent of Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave, her lyricism is vulnerable, witty, and brutally honest. With an attitude of early PJ Harvey, she takes you on a contorting journey.

PLEASE NOTE: This show is sold out! You can still pre-order the forthcoming album for complimentary guestlist (details below) – or if any final tickets do become available, we’ll announce via Twitter and Facebook. Alternatively, BC Camplight plays Gorilla on 10 October – read more and book now.

Pre-order a vinyl or CD copy of Deportation Blues via Bella Union to get on the guestlist for this show. Simply place your order here and then forward your receipt email to bccamplight@gmail.com.

We will be in touch on the day of the show to reveal the venue for this show.

Attend on: Facebook