M. JOHN HENRY - Early Songs, Of Late - CD [JAN 16]

CD - Featuring new versions of fan favourites 'Camera', 'Cathkin Braes', 'Evelyn' and 'The Engineer'.

Following on the heels of his acclaimed 2025 solo LP 'Strange Is The Way', ex-De Rosa frontman and Bellshill's shadier pop songsmith M. John Henry turns to his back catalogue with this beautiful collection of reworked and newly performed versions of classic songs and unreleased material. 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of 'Mend' - De Rosa's 2006 debut - which put Henry's songwriting on the map for its strong sentiment and deep connection to his post-industrial homeland.

A three decade career later (as both solo performer and collaborator with some of Scotland's finest - Barry Burns, Robert Dallas Gray, King Creosote, Gillian Fleetwood) and we find Henry seeking alternate paths through what were once jagged, indie-folk cuts and arriving in darkly pastoral territory.

"The kind of parochial majesty you might encounter if Pixies reworked The Go-Betweens' 'Before Hollywood' for a documentary about the social history of Lanarkshire...", MOJO magazine wrote of 'Mend'. Swap in Bert Jansch and Mark Eitzel and you might be heading in Henry's direction on 'Early Songs, Of Late'.

Featuring new versions of fan favourites 'Camera', 'Cathkin Braes', 'Evelyn' and 'The Engineer'.

"Strange Is The Way delivers big on small-scale epiphanies' (MOJO ****)

"Gorgeous..." - (Guy Garvey on single 'You Show Me Ways', BBC 6 Music)

'Impressive and thoughtful' (The List****)

'Marvellous stuff.' (The Skinny****) 

Tracklist: 

Hopes and Little Jokes
New Lanark
Camera
Prevent Me You
Evelyn
All Saint's Day
Hattonrigg Pit Disaster
Cathkin Braes
Ripped Apart
The Engineer
Swell