THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dexys are back! Some 11 years since the release of their last album of original music, the acclaimed One Day I’m Going to Soar, the band have returned with ther new record The Feminine Divine.
It’s Dexys’ fifth album of original material, produced once again by Pete Schwier, along with acclaimed session musician and producer Toby Chapman. After taking some time out to refocus his energy, Kevin Rowland came back to music with a fresh perspective and new-found positivity. The Feminine Divine is a personal, if not strictly autobiographical, record portraying a man whose views have evolved over time. Not just on women, but the whole concept of masculinity he had been raised with: An education and an un-learning that is traced across the arc of The Feminine Divine with dizzying effect.
With two tracks on the album that feature the word Goddess in the title — My Goddess Is and Goddess Rules — it’s only fitting that Kevin chose to use a painting inspired by Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, for the album-cover artwork.
Dipping into the archives for a song he’d originally written in 1991, the album’s opener The One That Loves You, is a tough-guy feint before he lifts the curtain on “what I really feel,” as announced by a classic bit of Kevin spoken word that leads into the second track, It’s Alright Kevin (Manhood 2023).
The record’s first half is full of music hall-esque swagger, much of it written with original Dexys’ trombonist Big Jim Paterson. The second side of the record is like nothing Dexys have done before. A saucy, synth-heavy cabaret, written in collaboration with Sean Read and Mike Timothy. It’s steamy, fizzing and sultry, at times doom-laden and heavy and at other times raunchy and funky. Quite a heady mix.
The current incarnation of the band is more of an “organic” assemblage — Kevin, Jim (a non-touring member), Read and Timothy. “It’s always just natural with me,” says Kevin. “The inspiration comes first, I think about what I can do, what songs I’ve got, then approach the band.” He describes their current lineup as “very much the nucleus, these days.”
With over a billion worldwide streams, three top 10 albums in the U.K., two No. 1 singles, a Brit Award and a multi-platinum-selling album with their sophomore release Too-Rye-Ay (as Dexys Midnight Runners), Dexys are as vital and exciting today as ever. With live shows set to be announced shortly in support of the record, The Feminine Divine marks a new chapter in a book that just keeps getting better and better.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” says Kevin. “But I feel I’ve got to it now.”
