Charles Watson will bring his headline UK tour to Manchester’s Gullivers on Friday in support of latest album YES. The Manchester gig is one of nine headline UK dates he is playing.
Yes witnesses songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Charles Watson stripping back his sound, creating a more intimate production. The album marks the Slow Club member’s second solo release.
The album includes the track Going Places. The song was subject to a new session version featuring the comedian, actor and screenwriter Mae Martin on vocals and guitar, with the accompaniment of Charles and solo artist / former Guillemots frontman Fyfe Dangerfield. The song was inspired, in part, by a quote from J.G. Ballard, which became one of the song’s most memorable lyrics, “Trespassing through some exotic suburb of my mind.”
Speaking about working together, Charles Watson said, “I think when we were talking about doing something together initially Mae was going to direct. Mae sent me a few recordings of their own songs which really blew me away. I’ve been trying to convince Mae to just make a whole record. The world needs it. Now that I think about it, the first time we met was after a Slow Club gig in the venue when everyone left and Mae picked up a guitar and started singing a Beatles song… perfectly.
“We ran through a few video treatments and just playing the song in a studio was the one that really excited Mae, so then we were like, ‘Let’s re-record it with you singing!’ It was a really fun day. Also we had the amazing Fyfe Dangerfield on piano who is just magical to watch. Two of my favourite people in a room! I’m just always looking to turn a work situation into a hang, basically.”
When does Charles Watson headline at Manchester’s Gullivers?
Charles Watson headlines at Gullivers, Manchester, on 16 September 2022. The gig in Manchester is one of nine UK dates he is performing:
8 September – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds 2
9 September – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
10 September – Bristol, Rough Trade
15 September – Sheffield, Sidney & Matilda
16 September – Manchester, Gullivers
17 September – Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club
22 September – Southampton, Heartbreakers
23 September – Brighton, Hope & Ruin
24 September – London, Oslo
