He may be releasing an expanded vinyl reissue of 1983’s Soul Mining next month, but Matt Johnson isn’t only looking backward: He’s recorded not one but two new film soundtracks under the The The banner, new music composed for the independent films “Hyena” and “Penthouse North,” both of which are making the festival rounds.
Additionally, Johnson has authorized an official The The biography to be written by Neil Fraser and published by HarperCollins imprint The Friday Project in autumn 2015.
In a news release, The Friday Project publisher Scott Pack says: “Fans have been waiting a long time for the official The The story and I am thrilled that we have signed up Neil to write it. Matt’s support and collaboration will make this the definitive biography. I cannot wait to publish it.”
Johnson adds:
“I first met Neil at a promotional event I held for a book I’d just published and this sparked a series of interesting conversations. I enjoyed his writing and he struck me as a perceptive, sincere fellow so when he made the suggestion of the biography my instinct said yes as the fact we’re on the same page politically, and that he’s not a music journalist, made me feel he could write a book about my career that would be refreshingly free of the usual cliches.”
As for the new music, Johnson has not revealed details of actual releases for the two new soundtracks, but it’s expected they will be issued similarly to the two other soundtracks — for the films “Tony” and “Moonbug” — that he put out in 2010 and 2012 following a decade of musical inactivity.
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- The The’s 1983 debut ‘Soul Mining’ to be reissued in deluxe 2LP 180-gram vinyl set
- ‘120 Minutes’ Rewind: The The’s Matt Johnson talks to Kevin Seal — June 11, 1989
- The The releases ‘Moonbug’ soundtrack album, re-starts ‘Radio Cineola’ podcasts
- The The airs tracks from unreleased ‘Gun Sluts,’ ’2 Blocks Below Canal’ albums
- Matt Johnson’s The The releases ‘Tony: A Soundtrack,’ first new album in decade
