Wednesday 5 April 2017

IMELDA MAY RELEASES EMPOWERING NEW VIDEO FOR FEMALE ANTHEM ‘SHOULD’VE BEEN YOU’



Yesterday Irish superstar Imelda May has released a powerful music video for her new single, ‘Should've Been You’. Inspired by the recent Women’s March, Imelda herself created the concept for the video, which was filmed in Brixton, London, by director Laura Scrivano. Shot in one continuous take, the video sees Imelda and a group of everyday 'superwomen' – real Imelda May fans who responded to a Facebook post – march through Brixton Market holding placards with messages of solidarity and empowerment. It follows Imelda’s appearance at the Brit Awards wearing her #dresslikeawoman outfit.

Imelda reveals, “I wrote Should've Been You as a personal story of heartbreak, regret and eventual empowerment but when making this video I wanted it to reflect current feelings of solidarity amongst lots of women worldwide in response to events unfolding around us such as the Trump administration’s approach to affordable health and maternity issues. I wanted to ask the question 'who takes care of us? We are 50% of the world and it’s the people in power’s responsibility to take care of women as well. It still seems like it’s a man’s world and in 2017 that’s shocking. And I have a young daughter, which changes your perception of how you want things to be. You want to leave her a better world, you think ahead that way.”

Imelda continues, “The women in the video, who were predominately made up of my fans, represent a cross section of wonderful everyday women – superwomen from all walks of life. They are not victims or aggressive towards men but are powerful and positive representations of the female spirit and solidarity. I am very proud of it. We worked hard, had fun, had many laughs and all before most ran off to do the school run! They all made me feel proud to be a woman!”

The track is taken from her hotly anticipated forthcoming fifth studio record, ‘Life. Love. Flesh. Blood’ - produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett and featuring musical contributions from guitar hero Jeff Beck (on ‘Black Tears’) and piano legend Jools Holland – it is fast becoming one of the most anticipated albums of this year. Praised by publications including Mojo (“A powerful new direction”) Uncut, The Mirror (who described her new music as “Raw and real”) to the Mail On Sunday (who made it Album Of The Week, gave it four stars and stated: "Great albums tend to be growers, but this one grabs you at first acquaintance"), The Daily Telegraph (comparing it to Bob Dylan’s classic album ‘Blood On The Tracks’) alongside support from US industry publication Billboard Magazine as well as UK tastemaker music publications from Foxes Magazine to The Four Oh Five.

Bob Dylan also recently revealed he is a fan of Imelda, including her alongside Iggy Pop and Valerie June as his favourite recent artists, in a rare interview with Bill Flanagan, published on his website.

Imelda May, born and raised in The Liberties area of Dublin, has become one of Ireland’s most celebrated female artists in history. Discovered by Jools Holland, who asked Imelda to support him on tour, Imelda has gone on to perform alongside legendary artists including Lou Reed, Bono and Smokey Robinson and can count high profile artists including Bob Dylan and Bono amongst her fans. Her previous album ‘Tribal’ debuted at #1 in Ireland and #3 in the UK.

Imelda has also announced her extensive 2017 UK Headline Tour in May, including a night at The London Palladium. A string of shows in the U.S. and Canada in June follows, including three dates as support for ‪Elvis Costello.

MAY 2017 UK & IRELAND TOUR DATES: THU 04 IPSWICH REGENT THEATRE FRI 05 CARDIFF ST DAVID’S HALL SAT 06 CAMBRIDGE CORN EXCHANGE MON 08 SOUTHEND CLIFFS PAVILION TUE 09 GUILDFORD G LIVE THU 11 READING HEXAGON FRI 12 BOURNEMOUTH PAVILION THEATRE SAT 1 NOTTINGHAM ROYAL CONCERT HALL MON 15 LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC TUE 16 YORK BARBICAN THU 18 LONDON PALLADIUM FRI 19 BRISTOL COLSTON HALL SAT 20 MANCHESTER BRIDGEWATER HALL MON 22 BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY HALL TUE 23 EDINBURGH USHER HALL WED 24 GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL FRI 26 GATESHEAD THE SAGE SAT 27 BELFAST WATERFRONT HALL MON 29 DUBLIN, BORD GAIS ENERGY THEATRE TUE 30 DUBLIN, BORD GAIS ENERGY THEATRE WED 31 DUBLIN, BORD GAIS ENERGY THEATRE

JUNE 2017 USA TOUR DATES: ‪TUE 20 RICHMOND, VA - RICHMOND RACEWAY COMPLEX* WED 21 CHARLOTTE, NC - CHARLOTTE METRO CREDIT UNION AMPHITHEATRE* ‪THU 22 VIENNA, VA - FILENE CENTER AT WOLF* ‪SAT 24 BOSTON, MA - PARADISE ROCK CLUB ‪SUN 25 PHILADELPHIA, PA - UNION TRANSFER ‪TUE 27 NEW YORK, NY - WEBSTER HALL ‪WED 28 TORONTO, ON - DANFORTH MUSIC HALL ‪FRI 30 CHICAGO, IL - PARK WEST

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