Music

Matt Johnson was born in London in 1961 and is probably best known as The The, a band of which he has always been the sole permanent member.

He spent most of his childhood and teenage years in the Two Puddings pub, not because he was partial to beer, but simply because his family ran the place for over 40 years. At the age of 18, with no musical experience whatsoever, he placed an advert in the columns of the "New Musical Express", a leading music weekly, looking for friends to form a band. They were asked to like The Velvet Underground, The Residents and Throbbing Gristle. And that's how The The's first fledgling sketches were born. Legend has it that, at one time or another, The The's fluctuating line-up included Johnny Marr, bassist Gail-Ann Dorsey and David Palmer, who later joined ABC.

I discovered Matt Johnson in 1981 on the now legendary compilation 'A Some Bizarre Album', on the label of the same name founded by the whimsical Steven 'Stevo' Pearce. It featured The The with 'Untitled', Dépêche Mode with 'Photographic', B-Movie, Blancmange, Soft Cell and Naked Lunch.

Between 1983 with "Soul Mining" and 1995 with "Hanky Panky", Matt Johnson released five essential albums in the history of modern music, inviting musicians and singers to work alongside him, without whom his repertoire would not be as grandiose. One example among many? On a hot summer's day, while on holiday from Squeeze, Jools Holland turned up at the Garden Studios in Shoreditch to play a few piano notes on "Uncertain Smile", which was still being worked on. In two improvised takes that Matt Johnson then juxtaposed, he gave him quite simply the most moving, twirling and heady piano solo in rock. On the same record, David Johansen (New York Dolls) plays harmonica on 'Perfect'. Subsequently, Neneh Cherry, Loyd Cole, Marc Almond, Jean-Marc Lederman and, among many others, Sinead O'Connor have also contributed to Matt Johnson's work.

At the end of the 90s, one might have thought that the artist would devote most of his time to writing film music, but 2021 marked his return to the stage at London's Royal Albert Hall (immortalised by a live album). In the next few days, and against all the odds, Johnson is getting ready to release 'Ensoulment', his first real new album in over 20 years, but also (although he has never loved burning up the stage) he has decided to hit the road again for a tour that will take him to the UK, of course, but also to Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States and even Australia. Matt 'The The' Johnson is well and truly back...

(AK - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Matt "The The" Johnson on the Grand Place in Brussels (Belgium) on 30 January 1984 shortly after the release of "Soul Mining" (© Etienne Tordoir)

Here are the concert dates of his Ensouled World Tour in August and September

Wednesday 21 August – (WARM UP) Cambridge Junction, Cambridge, England  
Thursday 22 August – (WARM UP) The Waterfront Norwich, England  
Friday 23 August – (WARM UP) Picturedrome, Holmfirth, England  
Sunday 25 August – National Museum Of Ireland, Collins Barracks, Dublin, Ireland~
(supported by A Lazarus Soul)
Friday 6 September – Rock City, Nottingham, England  
Saturday 7 September – Birdwell Venue, Barnsley, England   
Tuesday 10 September – Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway
Wednesday 11 September – Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway  
Friday 13 September – Filadelfia, Stockholm, Sweden
Saturday 14 September – Store Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark  
Sunday 15 September – Store Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark  
Tuesday 17 September – Huxleys, Berlin, Germany
Wednesday 18 September – Carlswerk Victoria, Köln, Germany
Thursday 19 September – Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium  
Saturday 21 September – De Roma, Antwerp, Belgium  
Sunday 22 September – Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands  
Monday 23 September – Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands  
Wednesday 25 September – Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland 
Friday 27 September – The Civic At The Halls, Wolverhampton, England   
Saturday 28 September – Alexandra Palace, London, England  
Monday 30 September – O2 Apollo, Manchester, England  

More dates in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia can be found here: https://www.thethe.com/tour-dates/