Imagine a Wurlitzer jukebox stacked with the hits of ELO, Pepper-era Beatles, the Beach Boys, early Pink Floyd and Supertramp. Now, imagine blowing that jukebox up with a cartoon-style dynamite stick and making a record from the exploded fragments of vinyl and luminescent tubing. That's a bit like what Jim Noir's debut album, "Tower Of Love," sounds like, now confirmed for an August 8 U.S. release on Barsuk/Atlantic Records.
In addition, sportswear giant Adidas has chosen the Noir track "Eanie Meany" as the theme song for its World Cup global advertising campaign. The song - which features the lyric "If you don't give my football back/I'm gonna get my dad on you," and its accompanying video packed full of world soccer stars - has already begun airing around the world, including the U.S. where it's on MTV and major sports channels. The 2006 World Cup will take place in Germany from June 9 through July 9.
Over the past 18 months, Manchester, UK-born Noir has emerged as one of the most promising new talents on the UK music scene. Since late 2004, he has released a series of EPs - "Eanie Meany," "My Patch," and "A Quiet Man" - in the UK that have received brilliant press reviews and all sold out. Noir's British label, My Dad Recordings, compiled songs from all three Eps along with brand new tracks, and released them as the album "Tower Of Love" in the UK last December. The U.S. version of "Tower of Love" will feature a slightly different track listing and sequence and will include two songs not found on the UK version - "Tell Me What To Do" and "Climb a Tree."
There's much to savor in the gorgeously-layered harmonies and lush-sounding samples found on the album's 13 tracks. There's the irrepressibly bouncy beat of "My Patch," the dreamlike melody of "How To Be So Real," and the richly nostalgic lyrics of "Eanie Meany" ("If you don't give my football back/I'm gonna get my dad on you/I only kicked it over your fence/And broke a silly gnome or two.") Then there's Noir's bizarre ode to his PC on "Computer Song" and the hot new track "The Only Way."
Noir made his U.S. concert debut in March when he played a series of gigs at SXSW. He will cross the Atlantic once again this summer to play the Lollapalooza festival, as well as a series of club dates in a dozen or so major markets - dates will be announced shortly.
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