Working Men’s Club have announced a new remix EP, called ‘The Steel City’, which will see producers from Sheffield reimagine tracks from the band’s ‘Fear Fear’ album.
The EP will be released exclusively through Sheffield independent record store Bear Tree as a limited-edition bonus CD alongside the new album, which arrives on July 15.
Working Men’s Club frontman and songwriter Syd Minsky Sargeant has become immersed in the city’s musical community since recording their self-titled debut album there. The group’s guitarist Mairead O’Connor is also originally from Sheffield.
Among the producers enlisted for the new EP are Toddla T, who tackled ‘Money Is Mine’; Charla Green, who re-worked the title track; and the band’s longtime collaborator and producer, Ross Orton, who took on ‘Ploys’. Elsewhere, Diessa reimagines ‘Rapture’ and Forgemasters put their spin on ‘The Last One’.
“It was lovely to work on a remix for Working Men’s Club and put a jungle twist on it,” Green said. “Sheffield’s music scene has a lot to offer so it’s nice to see alternative scenes working together. I’ve also loved Heavenly Recordings [who the band are signed to] for a long time so that was a bonus.”
Toddla T added: “As the original version stank of Sheffield, I wanted to do something that I would be itching to play in a set back home, particularly at Kabal or – if I wasn’t in attendance – something that I know Winnie or Pipes would draw which was made for the dancefloors of Sheffield.”
‘The Steel City’ EP tracklist is as follows:
1. ‘Money Is Mine – Toddla T Home Sick Remix’
2. ‘Fear Fear – Charla Green Remix’
3. ‘Ploys – Ross Orton Remix’
4. ‘Rapture – Diessa Remix’
5. ‘The Last One – Forgemasters Remix’
Speaking about ‘Fear Fear’ earlier this year, Sargeant said: “The first album was mostly a personal documentation lyrically, this is a blur between personal and a third-person perspective of what was going on.
“I like the contrast of it being happy, uplifting music and really dark lyrics. It’s not a minimal record, certainly compared to the first one. That’s because there’s been a lot more going on that needed to be said.”
Meanwhile, the frontman revealed in April that he was “very nearly finished” with his debut solo album. “Been working on a solo record for quite some time now,” he shared on Twitter. “It’s very nearly finished. Hoping it will be publicly audible in the next year or so.”