BMX Bandits are back with their twelfth studio album, their most musically ambitious so far – 'Dreamers On The Run'. An album dedicated to all the outsiders out there. BMX Bandits were formed in the Scottish ex industrial town of Bellshill in 1985 by Duglas T Stewart and Sean Dickson. When Sean left to concentrate on his other band The Soup Dragons so began BMX Bandits, not as a conventional band of the same 4 or 5 faces but as an ever growing extended musical family which has included members of The Vaselines, The Pastels, The Pearlfishers and Teenage Fanclub over the years. In 2014 Duglas formulated the idea for a new BMX Bandits album that would be called 'Dreamers on the Run', about living in two worlds; the world of dreams and of music while trying to survive the real world.
Duglas started writing songs for the new album and even booked a couple of shows to perform these new Dreamers songs live. Then Duglas got ill, his mental health spiralled out of control and this led to physical health problems. The project was put on hold, the planned live shows and recording were cancelled. During lockdown Duglas was commissioned to provide the soundtrack for an independent feature film ‘Dreaded Light’. For this project Duglas chose multi instrumentalist Andrew Pattie to be his main collaborator. Andrew had being playing guitar live for the band for a few years. Duglas recalls “After recording an actual soundtrack for an actual movie together it became obvious to me that Andrew was the right collaborator to make this very cinematic album that I’d dreamt of.
He had the musicality and fearlessness that it needed.” So now, ten years later than originally planned 'Dreamers on the Run' is here. “Together we worked on some of the song ideas and themes that I had a decade ago, completing them together and both of us wrote new material that complemented the album’s narrative.” The album was mastered by Duglas’ original partner in crime Sean Dickson, now known as Hifi Sean and features guest appearances by giants of the International Pop Underground Jowe Head and Calvin Johnson.
Duglas started writing songs for the new album and even booked a couple of shows to perform these new Dreamers songs live. Then Duglas got ill, his mental health spiralled out of control and this led to physical health problems. The project was put on hold, the planned live shows and recording were cancelled. During lockdown Duglas was commissioned to provide the soundtrack for an independent feature film ‘Dreaded Light’. For this project Duglas chose multi instrumentalist Andrew Pattie to be his main collaborator. Andrew had being playing guitar live for the band for a few years. Duglas recalls “After recording an actual soundtrack for an actual movie together it became obvious to me that Andrew was the right collaborator to make this very cinematic album that I’d dreamt of.
He had the musicality and fearlessness that it needed.” So now, ten years later than originally planned 'Dreamers on the Run' is here. “Together we worked on some of the song ideas and themes that I had a decade ago, completing them together and both of us wrote new material that complemented the album’s narrative.” The album was mastered by Duglas’ original partner in crime Sean Dickson, now known as Hifi Sean and features guest appearances by giants of the International Pop Underground Jowe Head and Calvin Johnson.
TRACK LISTING
Tracklist:
A1. Dreamers On The Run
A2. Setting Sun
A3. Time To Get Away
A4. What He Set Out To Be
A5. Cockerel’s Waiting
B1. My Name Is Duglas (Don’t Listen To What They Say)
B2. Home Before Dark – In The Industrial Zone
B3. Hop Skip Jump (For Your Love)
B4. The World Was Round
B5. Things You Threw Away
B6. Digital Dreamers
Tracklist Bonus 7":
A1. Setting Sun (Single Version With Intro)
A2. Your Class (Even More Dreams Version)
B1. Home Before Dark (Even More Dreams Version)
B2. Come Dance With Me