The Wildhearts have announced that they’ll release a mini-album later this year.
Diagnosis will launch on October 4 through Graphite Records and will feature five brand new tracks, with its release coming hot on the heels of Renaissance Men which arrived in May this year.
All three physical formats will feature an inner gatefold comic strip illustrated by the award-winning Hunt Emerson, who last worked with the band on the Earth Vs The Wildhearts cover and their logo.
Guitarist CJ says: “We dropped our first new album in 10 years back in May and blow me down if we didn't drop a humdinger of an album full of monster riffs and razor sweet melodies.
“Well, we've not only gone back into the studio to record five new songs that will be released as the Diagnosis mini-album in October, we're hitting the road too.
“We have some great supports confirmed already, The Professionals and Janus Stark and I know there are some other amazing bands to be added to the rest of the tour.
You're going to love the new mini-album and the surprises we have on there
CJ
“You're going to love the new mini-album and the surprises we have on there and the tour is going to be one you should not miss. You can't keep a good band down.”
Speaking about the lead track Diagnosis, vocalist and guitarist Ginger says it’s about “mental health institutions and the medical health profession in this country, and about how it's letting people down. How the system is broken, and how the suicide rate is not getting any less.”
He adds: “Depression and mental illness isn't an issue that attacks any one type of person. Whether you're homeless or if you're rich, this illness is taking people out on a regular basis. The government has pulled most of the funding into mental health research, and as a result people are still ignorant about it.
“Education is everything. And the more people talk about depression, the more need there'll be for education, and the more people will want educating about an issue that doesn't just affect the people suffering from it, but it affects everyone around them.
“And when someone is in a desperate position and their hope is taken away, then they're at the mercy of an illness that wants them dead. There's nothing more important in the world than education on mental health issues.”
To mark the mini-album announcement, The Wildhearts have release a new video for The Renaissance Men which can be watched below.
Album pre-orders and ticket bundles are also now available from The Wildhearts official website.
The Wildhearts: Diagnosis
1. Diagnosis
2. God Damn
3. A Song About Drinking
4. The First Time
5. That’s My Girl
6. LOCAC
