The Proclaimers to release ‘political’ new album Dentures Out featuring Manic Street Preachers’ James Dean Bradfield

It is brothers Craig and Charlie Reid’s first album since 2018’s hugely acclaimed Angry Cyclist, and features Manic Street Preachers’ James Dean Bradfield.

The Leith duo’s 12th longplayer comes 35 years since the release of their landmark debut album, This Is The Story, and 34 since the release of Sunshine On Leith, the second album that made them international stars.

And, at the ripe young age of 60, the fire and ire of Craig and Charlie remain righteously undimmed.

The Proclaimers have announced their new album, Dentures Out, will arrive in September.

According to a press release, it’s The Proclaimers’ “most political album” since Sunshine On Leith, tackling topics such as the weaponising of nostalgia for electoral capital, press barons, the bubble of modern life, and more.

Due out September 16, via Cooking Vinyl, the album sees Bradfield lend his guitar skills to a couple of songs, playing on the title track and the “James Bond theme that never was”, Things As They Are.

The Proclaimers recently kicked off their 14-month world tour with a main stage appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival.

In November, they visit Motherwell, Dunfermline and Dundee, followed by December dates in Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Edinburgh, Perth, Inverness and Aberdeen.

The Proclaimers’ story

The twins were born in Leith's Eastern General Hospital on March 5, 1962. Growing up in Auchtermuchty, Fife, the pair attended Bell Baxter High School and while there, their musical talents were sparked when Craig was given a 'beaten up drum kit' and Charlie, a guitar.

Influenced by the likes of The Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols and The Jam, their first love was punk, playing in bands like Black Flag, the Hippy Hasslers and Reasons For Emotion.

They adopted the moniker The Proclaimers when they became an acoustic duo in 1983 and quickly developed a dedicated fan base in Scotland.

It was in 1984 that they wrote the first of their signature tracks, Letter To America, but their path to stardom really began when Kevin Rowland, of Dexys Midnight Runners fame, helped them produce a demo album, which, in turn led The Housemartins to invite them to be their support act on their 1986 tour.

A year later, they appeared on the Channel 4’s The Tube, bring them to the attention of Chrysalis Records who signed them, releasing their first album, This Is The Story, later in 1987.

Letter from America, remixed by the late Gerry Rafferty, gave them their first Top 10 single. It peaked at No 3, and saw them make their Top of The Pops debut on December 12, 1987.

It was their second album, Sunshine On Leith (1988), however, that saw the Reids become serious players in the pop world.

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), which reached No 1 in Australia and New Zealand, I'm On My Way, and the title track, which was adopted by Hibernian football club as an anthem, made the brothers global stars.

These days, the Reid brothers are considered bona fide Scottish music legends, and sell out venues across the world.