The End Records/BMGMike + the Mechanics, the band led by founding Genesis guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford, will release their first new studio album in six years, Let Me Fly, on April 7. The record is a follow-up to 2011’s The Road and features the same lineup that recorded that album — Rutherford, singers Andrew Roachford and Tim Howar, keyboardist Luke Juby, drummer Gary Wallis and guitarist Anthony Drennan.
Rutherford co-wrote a number of songs on Let Me Fly with former Johnny Hates Jazz singer Clark Datchler.
“We sat down together and from day one it worked,” says Mike. “Clark’s a proper writer and he brought something new. I’d send him lines and he’d bring them to life. We never had a slow day.”
The album also includes collaborations with British pop songwriters Fraser T. Smith and Ed Drewett, as well as contributions from Roachford and Howar.
Rutherford says he feels Let Me Fly features a much stronger collection of songs than The Road, which he notes was recorded not long after the current Mike + the Mechanics lineup came together.
“We’ve learned to play together now,” he maintains. “For me, it’s about proving I can write a good song, but the older you get, the less you let yourself off with ‘it’s not bad,’ the less you pretend and the tougher you are on yourself.”
The first single from the album, “Don’t Know What Came Over Me,” will hit stores on February 28.
Meanwhile, Mike + the Mechanics launched a U.K. tour this past Saturday in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that runs through March 28 in Salisbury. Interestingly, the band also will be opening for Rutherford’s old band mate Phil Collins on June 30 at the Barclaycard British Summer Time concert in London.
Here’s the full track list of Let Me Fly:
“Let Me Fly”
“Are You Ready?”
“Wonder”
“The Best Is Yet to Come”
“Save the World”
“High Life”
“Don’t Know What Came Over Me”
“The Letter”
“Not Out of Love”
“Love Left Over”
“I’ll Be There for You”
“Save My Soul”
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
