MFANS


M:FANS is the sixteenth solo studio album by Welsh musician and composer John Cale. It was released in January 2016 on the Double Six Records imprint of Domino Recording Company. Produced by Cale, it features new versions of songs from his 1982 album Music for a New Society. "Close Watch" was the album's lead single. It was released in November 2015 and features Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors.

Background

In a statement Cale recounted the process of making the album, and how the 2013 death of former bandmate and collaborator Lou Reed had informed it:

Making any form of art is always personal to my mind. During the making of M:FANS, I found myself loathing each and every character written about in those original recording sessions of Music For... Unearthing those tapes reopened those wounds. It was time to decimate the despair from 1981 and breathe new energy, re-write the story. Then, the unthinkable happened. What had informed so much over lost and twisted relationships in 1981 had now come full circle. Losing Lou forced me to upend the entire recording process and begin again...a different perspective - a new sense of urgency to tell a story from a completely opposite point of view - what was once sorrow, was now a form of rage. A fertile ground for exorcism of things gone wrong and the realization they are unchangeable. From sadness came the strength of fire!!!

Accolades

Track listing

All tracks composed by John Cale; except where indicated.
  1. "Prelude" – 2:17
  2. "If You Were Still Around" – 5:18
  3. "Taking Your Life in Your Hands" – 5:43
  4. "Thoughtless Kind" – 5:27
  5. "Sanctus " – 5:19
  6. "Broken Bird" – 5:10
  7. "Chinese Envoy" – 3:51
  8. "Changes Made" – 3:54
  9. "Library of Force" – 3:09
  10. "Close Watch" – 5:15
  11. "If You Were Still Around " – 4:44
  12. "Back to the End" – 3:34

    Personnel