The Futureheads’ Barry Hyde to explore mining heritage of the North East on new solo album ‘Miners’ Ballads’

The Futureheads frontman Barry Hyde has announced a new solo album ‘Miners’ Ballads’ and shared the latest single ‘Last Dance (At The Landlord’s Ball)’ – listen below.

• READ MORE: The Futureheads: “Noel Gallagher told us we were the weirdest band he’d ever heard”

‘Miners’ Ballads’ will be a concept album that will explore the coal mining heritage of the North East of England, with particular emphasis on Sunderland and Washington. The record is released on March 21 via Sirenspire Records and you can pre-order/pre-save it here.

‘Last Dance (At The Landlord’s Ball)’ sees Hyde playing a vintage-sounding piano as he recounts a menacing tale of a worker that is out for revenge after an encounter with a young woman goes wrong. Listen here:

Speaking about the track, Hyde has said: “‘Last Dance (At The Landlord’s Ball)’ is a standout track on the album and it follows a narrative that emerged as the album evolved. Following on from the track ‘Collier Laddie’, a song about a love struck coal mine owner, the protagonist descends into a jealous rage of madness after being unsuccessful in wooing a local pit village girl, even after offering her unthinkable wealth and privilege. She remains true to her collier sweetheart and the Landlord goes insane.”

The album was commissioned by Sunderland City Council and it saw Hyde research the history of local families and their connections with coal mining in the area, only to discover a tragedy that touched his own family.

His friend, the historian Keith Gregson, revealed to him that Thomas (13) and Joseph (14), two of Hyde’s ancestors, were killed in the Trimdon Grande mining disaster in February 1882 in County Durham. The last track on the album, ‘Trimdon Grange 1882’, is dedicated to their memory.

‘Miners’ Ballads’ tracklist: 

1. ‘The Miner’s Life’
2. ‘Putter’s Lament’ 
3. ‘Collier Laddie’ 
4. ‘The Endless Ropes’ 
5. ‘Come All You Colliers’ 
6. ‘What Happened To The Ponies’ 
7. ‘Working Man’ 
8. ‘Last Dance (At The Landlord’s Ball)’ 
9. ‘Trimdon Grange 1882’ 

In other news, Hyde recently spoke to NME about his experience with The Futureheads opening for The Killers on the 2005 NME Awards tour, which also included Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs.

“All the bands hung out together, and there was a positive competitiveness. We were below headliners The Killers, and they changed their setlist depending on how we went down,” Hyde told us. “We went down extremely well in Glasgow  – so much so that The Killers decided to start with ‘Mr Brightside’!”

“Retrospectively, it was an exciting time for British indie music, and I would love there to be a positive nostalgia trip for the Noughties. Looking back, we were so young. Our drummer was only 16 and wasn’t even legally allowed in the venues for our first tours of America.”

Hyde also recalled the 2005 NME Awards ceremony, which marked the end of the tour. “That was a heavy-duty Noughties night! I was gutted because I went up to Simon Pegg at the bar and told him how much I loved his sitcom Spaced, and he wasn’t very friendly,” he said. “I ended up winning the award that nobody wants – when NME gave me The Drunkest Person of the Night award!”

The Futureheads will join Richard Ashcroft at a huge show at the Lamex Stadium in Stevenage on May 25, alongside The Zutons. Find more information about that show here.

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