A Certain Ratio Share Christmas Track 'Now And Laughter'

A CERTAIN RATIO, Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson, have announced details of a brand new four-track EP, Christmasville UK, due out on December 11, 2024 via Mute. The EP will be available digitally and on 12” in a limited edition of 500 copies pressed on transparent orange vinyl, made in Scotland by sustainable pressing plant Seabass Vinyl. 

The EP is heralded with ACR’s first ever Christmas track, “Now and Laughter,” which embodies all of the hope and goodwill of the season. Originally demoed during the It All Comes Down to This album sessions, in true ACR recycling style the guitar chords are based on the chords from “The Big E” / “Won’t Stop Loving You”, while the lyrics acknowledge the unsung heroes that are on hand when the pressures of the festivities can become too much to bear.

With yuletide spirit, the band have invited some of the extended ACR family to join the celebrations and rework tracks from their 2024 album, It All Comes Down to This. Jane Weaver (labelmate when they were both on much-missed Rob Gretton’s label back in the ‘90s) has remixed “Where You Coming From,” and long-time friend and collaborator Emperor Machine (aka Andy Meecham) has given “Out From Under” an extended rework, which you can listen to HERE.

Some newer friends have been invited into the fold too. London-based Jezebell, who the band heard when they were on tour in Germany, brings the Electro Balearic party spirit to “We All Need” to complete the EP.

A Certain Ratio’s latest full-length release, the Dan Carey-produced album It All Comes Down to This (2024, Mute) was released in spring this year. Their thirteenth studio album, which featured tracks such as “All Comes Down to This” and “Keep It Real”, was their most political to date, and evidenced the band’s dogged, relentless demand to evolve, re-assess and reinvent with every new release. This new EP is yet another unexpected turn in their expansive catalog. “ACR does Christmas! Who’d have thunk it?”, exclaim the band, “We are big Slade fans though…