Manchester band The Lottery Winners have announced their forthcoming new album ‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’, out on 28th April on Modern Sky Recordings, which will feature collaborations with Boy George, Frank Turner, and Shaun Ryder.
The band, who are currently on tour with Frank Turner, have also announced a UK tour throughout April into May, which will be followed by further festival dates throughout the summer.
A mammoth step forward, ‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’ is on one level a set of 10 absolute anthems (and three interludes from a mystery narrator). These are mass singalongs in waiting from a band who’ve specialised in bringing people together over their previous two albums.
Scratch the surface, however, and there’s a world of empowerment and defiance, tackling subjects such as austerity, as well as of course, anxiety, mental health and its medications, and ADHD. It helps that these messages come wrapped with some of the best choruses you’re likely to hear all year.
“Each of the albums in my collection are a self-help tape for me,” explains singer Thom Rylance. “If I listen to Paul Simon’s Graceland, it’s because I know it’ll put me in a good mood. If I play The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths, it’s because I want to embrace feeling sad. We wanted to present ‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’ as a self-help tape for anyone playing it.”
Bassist Kate Lloyd adds: “We know how much our band means to people. If this album gives support to anyone and helps keep them going, that’d mean more than anything.”
The album features guest spots with their friend and previous collaborator Frank Turner on the moving and stirring ‘Letter To Myself’ , as well as Boy George who puts in a bravura performance on the summery ‘Let Me Down’ which recalls the emotional intensity of his work with Culture Club, and Shaun Ryder who brings his freewheeling brilliance on the already incisive austerity anthem ‘Money’, reprising his iconic “Call the cops!” refrain from Happy Mondays’ 1990 classic ‘Step On’.
“Having the brains of people like Shaun, Frank and George on our work is incredible, I feel humbled to be in a position where our idols say yes to us.” Thom says.
The collaborations came to be recorded in humorous ways, as Thom describes with Boy George:
“I was researching what it is that makes a song a classic. I’m intrigued by pop icons and the idea of classic songs, so I was listening to a lot of Boy George. I wrote Let Me Down for George without knowing it. When the penny dropped that George should sing it, I couldn’t rest until he agreed. Which I’m sure wasn’t very fun for George.”
Sure enough, Thom messaged George on Twitter, sending “about 55” tweets until George agreed to hear it. His response: “Darling, I love it!”
‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’ is the follow-up to 2021’s ‘Something To Leave The House For’ which placed at No.11 in the Album Charts, and saw the band garner support across the board at Radio 1, Radio 2, 6 Music, Radio X, Virgin, XS and Amazing Radio.
2022 saw the band take their live reputation Stateside for sold out shows across the pond as well as in the UK, along with main stage festival slots, all climaxing with a homecoming Christmas at Manchester Albert Hall, with 1,800 tickets selling out in just 10 hours. ‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’ is certain to bring more people into The Lottery Winners’ welcoming embrace.
Tickets for the band’s headline tour beginning in April go on-sale on 27th January. Fans can access pre-sale tickets by pre-ordering the album from TheLotteryWinners.co.uk
Anxiety Replacement Therapy Tracklisting:
- [PLAY]
- Worry
- Burning House
- Money (ft Shaun Ryder)
- Long Way Down
- Sertaline
- [PAUSE]
- Letter To Myself (ft Frank Turner)
- Jennie
- Let Me Down (ft Boy George)
- Not Alone
- Anxiety Replacement Therapy
- [STOP]
2023 Tour Dates:
Supporting Frank Turner:
24 January Bath Forum
25 January Flintshire The Tivoli, Buckley
27 January Dundee Fat Sam’s
28 January Lancaster Kanteena
30 January Newcastle University Union
31 January York Barbican
1 February Stoke Victoria Hall
3 February Brighton Dome
4 February Ipswich Corn Exchange
6 February Northampton The Roadmender
7 February Portsmouth Guildhall
8 February Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall
Headline & Festival Shows:
4 April Sheffield Leadmill
9 April Pasapop Festival (Schijndel, Netherlands)
10 April Amsterdam Paradiso
12 April Liverpool O2 Academy 2
14 April Oxford Bullingdon
15 April Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
16 April Hertford Corn Exchange
18 April Birmingham Mama Roux
19 April Glasgow Room 2
20 April Leeds Brudenell
21 April Middlesborough Empire
22 April Warrington Parr Hall
23 April Nottingham Rescue Rooms
25 April Exeter Phoenix
26 April Bristol Thekla
27 April Brighton Patterns
28 April Southampton Engine Rooms
29 April London Lafayette
2 May Stoke Sugarmill
28 May Manchester Neighbourhood Festival
