Mekons (beloved, mythical British rabble-rousing beast) and Freakwater (also beloved, yet often derided as godmothers of Alt-Country) have allied their sundry song & dance talents for the forces of good. Together they are FREAKONS. Oddly, Freakwater and Mekons were bound to each other at the start, by the rich seam of Anthracite coal running the width of the Atlantic Ocean from Wales to the Appalachian Mountains. The music and culture of mineral resource extraction, ecological disaster, and worker exploitation are their shared heritage. FREAKONS, the eponymously-titled album to be released March 25, 2022 (Fluff & Gravy Records), is the first fruit of this visionary musical union. PRE-ORDER
Watch an album teaser:
Mekons’ Jon Langford & Sally Timms and Freakwater’s Janet Beveridge Bean & Catherine Irwin are joined here by the stellar string and vocal harmonies of Jean Cook (Ida, Tara Jane O’Neil, Skull Orchard) and Anna Krippenstapel (The Other Years, Joan Shelley, Freakwater), along with special guest, the beloved guitar genius Jim Elkington (Jeff Tweedy, Richard Thompson, Eleventh Dream Day, Horse’s Ha, Skull Orchard, Freakwater, The Zincs). Belgian painter Jo Clauwaert created the album’s intricate gatefold cover. Images from song lyrics and related history emerge and recede again in this gorgeously illustrated artistic fever dream.
Photo credit: Connie Ward
