The Fall are set to return with a live version of their fan-favourite 1981 project, Slates. Nearly 50 years after the band’s formation in 1976, four surviving members of the group – Marc Riley, Craig Scanlon, Paul Hanley and Steve Hanley – have come together for the new release of archive recordings, out 26 April.

Announced earlier today via celebrated UK label Bella Union, Slates (Live) will be the first release from the label’s new subsidiary POPSTOCK, created by the four Fall members as a means of highlighting “unusual and alternative versions of the brilliant records they helped create.”

“Slate Live... presents live versions of the six songs that make up the original mini-LP, with the incredible versions chosen in order to present the songs at every stage of their live performance, both pre and post recording,” Bella Union wrote in a recent Instagram post.

“Lovingly curated with input from band members at every stage, including sourcing, mastering and design, and with sleeve notes by Fall Uber-fan Stewart Lee, Slates Live is the type of release that Fall fans have been craving for years.”

 

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The Fall were formed in 1976, in Prestwich, Great Manchester. Founding member Mark E. Smith died following a long illness in January 2018.