Peter Perrett shares the second single ‘Disinfectant’ from this new album The Cleansing set for release on 1st November. Dream Wife’s Alice Go appears on the new track together with his trusted team of sons Jamie (guitar / production) and Peter Jr (bass) and members of his live band. ‘Disinfectant’ was the first track that Fontaines D.C.’s Carlos O’Connell worked on with Perrett having met each other at a Fontaines D.C. after show. Peter bumped into him in the neighbourhood and O’Connell then visited Perrett at Pathway Studios and jammed along to ‘Disinfectant’. “I really liked what Carlos played,” says Perrett. “We went back into the studio, and he ended up playing on eight tracks.”
The Cleansing doesn’t only match Perrett’s best work but expands it: an ambitious double album comprising 20 songs. Perrett’s uniquely narcotic and alluring melodies, gorgeous South London drawl and ravishing rock dynamic now allied to a wider span of musical arrangements and lyrical concerns – touching on themes of art, addiction, ageing, social media and witch trials amongst others. “I know some of the subject matter is death, suicide and depression,” Perrett notes, “but I feel there is an uplifting atmosphere to the album, because I’m obviously enjoying recognising what is going on around me.”
“I feel that, the older you get, the more reflective you get,” Perrett says. “I’d always been flippant about the way I approached life, only living in the moment, but then you start to look back at the choices made. I wanted to be more focused about what I wanted to say. I’m still writing about love and the human condition, but perhaps more sentimental, and less abject cynicism, than usual. I also am more focused about the music. Before, I’d put down two guitars, bass and drums, and that was the song: I didn’t give the process much thought, but then we started opening things up.”
With The Cleansing, the saga of Peter Perrett can finally, and irrefutably, move on from his first coming with The Only Ones, one of the most distinctive and charismatic of all new wave bands with a thrilling live reputation. The Cleansing is notable for Perrett’s observations of the world outside, written from the perspective of a man who realised how much had changed (not least himself). Cleansed, revitalised, survived: one of rock’s great non-conformists is in the form of his life, and one of rock’s great comebacks is primed to keep going.
Peter Perrett Live Dates
2024
October
19 – Moth Club, London – sold out
November
2 – Rough Trade East, London – Q&A
2025
February
12th February – The Deaf Institute, Manchester
13th February – King Tut’s, Glasgow
15th February – The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge
16th February – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
18th February – The Fleece, Bristol
19th February – Islington Assembly Hall, London
21st February – La Maroquinerie, Paris
23rd February – Paradiso (Upstairs), Amsterdam
24th February – Kantine am Berghain, Berlin
28th February – Upload, Barcelona
March
1st March – 16 Toneladas, Valencia
2nd March – Sala Sol, Madrid
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