Robert Plant and The Strange Sensation 'Mighty Rearranger' album

Robert Plant and The Strange Sensation are pleased to confirm that they have signed a major record deal with Sanctuary Records...

... and their eagerly anticipated new album, Mighty Rearranger, will be released May 10, 2005.

“Myself and the band have received great encouragement from Sanctuary Records. We have made a very committed and powerful record and feel that Sanctuary's representation can be a great help to us in pushing these songs out into the great big music machine”. Robert Plant

Mighty Rearranger finds Robert working again with his band The Strange Sensation who were so vital to his 2002 critically acclaimed and Grammy nominated ‘Dreamland’ album. The new album follows his definitive solo retrospective anthology, Sixty-Six To Timbuktu released in 2003 on Atlantic Records and is an electrifying tour de force.

Sanctuary Group Chief Executive Officer Merck Mercuriadis commented, "It is a dream come true to have Robert on the label. Music fans know him as one of the greatest front men and rock icons of all time but Mighty Rearranger proves that not only is he one of the greatest artists of all time but that The Strange Sensation are a vital new band."

Joe Cokell, CEO Sanctuary Recorded Music Worldwide: “Robert has made a fabulous record that has excited everyone within the company and our belief is the album will be a worldwide success by the summer".

Robert Plant is the keynote speaker at this year’s South by Southwest and will also perform at the event. A world tour begins with the Tsunami Benefit gig at Bristol Academy on February 19th and 20th (along with Portishead, Massive Attack and other acts) and continues until next February.

Biography

Robert Plant’s new album, Mighty Rearranger out May 10th, is an extraordinary accomplishment from one of the most inventive, consistently daring and talented figures in contemporary music. Plant’s band The Strange Sensation who worked with him on 2002’s Grammy nominated, Dreamland, have been vital in the development of what looks set to be one of this year’s most talked about albums.

Robert Plant and The Strange Sensation formed in 2001. The band draws together talent from across a broad spectrum of contemporary musicians: Clive Deamer (drums) from Portishead and Roni Size projects; John Baggott (bass) of Portishead and Massive Attack; Billy Fuller (bass) - from Bristol band ‘Fuzz Against Junk; Skin – ambient guitar formerly of Brit Pop phenomena Cast and Justin Adams playing gimbri, darbouka and guitar, late of Sinead O’Connor, Jah Wobble and the Wayward Shakes. Their first album together, Dreamland was informed by Plant’s attraction to and affection for the music of Southern Morocco, and the psychedelic indo-rock of mid to late 60’s in USA.

Mighty Rearranger was written and created in Snowdonia and in the lea of Solsbury Hill. The album developed organically, arising out of joyful anarchic experimentation.

As guitarist Justin Adams says:

“It’s always idiosyncratic; we’re a weird bunch of characters and we all do stuff in a non standard way. Robert is an interesting person to work with. He encourages people’s individual styles: he’s happy for me to bring in unfamiliar North African rhythms and for John to introduce weird electronic sounds: it doesn’t happen that often nowadays. Usually it’s one guy at home with a computer. It wasn’t like that in 60’s and 70’s - people were breaking rules and inventing new forms of music: we are closer to that spirit: of weird and anarchic ways.”

The result is an inspired collection of songs that are raw and bristling with energy but also rich in texture and detail. The whole album is remarkably coherent, with a strong sense of unity that arises out of the unique democratic creative process and the unusual gigs the band have been playing.

“On this album we used computers as part of the writing process,” says Robert.” We recorded spontaneous jams and rough ideas which we've been able to manipulate while keeping our raw energy. The touring that we've done in the Arctic Circle, the Sahara Desert, Baltic States as well as the weird and difficult times we have been through while writing the album have helped us to develop a real band dynamic”.

Since the end of Led Zeppelin in 1980 Plant has recorded many solo projects and collaborated with a host of colorful accomplices. He and Jimmy Page renewed their long-time partnership in ’94 to create the No Quarter project – a mélange of North African, Egyptian and New Wave folk roots sounds.

In recent times, Plant has recorded with Afro Celt Sound System and along with Skin and Justin Adams, traveled to South Sahara, North of Timbuktu in Mali to participate in the 2nd Festival of the Desert, a gathering of African Saharan and assorted soul musicians including Oumou Sangare, Ali Farka Toure, Tinariwen and Tidawt. This project ultimately became a CD compilation to be found on the Harmonia Mundi label and was featured on DVD.

2003 saw the prestigious release of the definitive Plant retrospective, Sixty Six to Timbuktu, which included a selection of Plant’s solo work from his first recording date to his appearance in Mali.

The new album, titled Mighty Rearranger is a collection of 12 all new, all original songs due for release in May 10th 2005. Committed and powerful the album is an electrifying tour de force and takes the world music influences explored in Dreamland and uses them as a springboard for a more electric sound. Mighty Rearranger recalls the drive and passion of Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin’s strongest work and is packed full of explosive riffs, compulsive guitar hooks as well as tender and highly expressive arrangements.

This new project also sees the return of Plant’s Es Paranza label which is intended to be a vehicle for future projects concerning Plant and other musicians.

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Robert Plant and The Strange Sensation - Mighty Rearranger