Jake Shears Shares New Track 'Last Man Dancing'
His new album will see a release on June 2nd, 2023 via Mute.
By: Michael Major May. 23, 2023
Jake Shears has shared new single “Last Man Dancing”, the title track from his highly-anticipated new album that will see a release on June 2nd, 2023 via Mute.
Jake Shears will take Last Man Dancing out on the road this summer with an intimate run of UK shows, international festivals (including Glastonbury and Mighty Hoopla) and in-store events for the week of release. He has also announced a New York album-signing event that will take place on June 8th, 2023 at the Barnes & Noble on 5th Ave.
A universal message told in novelistic detail, “Last Man Dancing” is a reminder to keep moving whatever life throws at you. Portraying a cast of misfits alone (but together) in a bar scene, the track’s soaring, Abba-esque melody is partnered with a moving lyric, “finally I’m feeling / something like alive / I don’t care if it’s happening / at quarter past five”, that has the immediate feel of another Jake Shears classic.
The video brings the vibrant world of the album artwork to life; a chaotic house party in which Jake Shears earns his trophy not just as the “Last Man Dancing”, but also as one of this generation’s most influential pop stars.
Last Man Dancing was introduced in irresistible style earlier this year with the redemptive disco groove of “Too Much Music” and followed by recent single “I Used To Be In Love”, a symphonic blast of house, hedonism, and finding yourself right at home in a crowd of strangers.
The record was conceived between the US, Portugal, and London (where Jake relocated from his New Orleans home during the pandemic) alongside the sort of head-turning guestlist that, in Shears’ cross-pollinating universe, also makes total sense: from Amber Martin and Boys Noize to Big Freedia, Kylie Minogue, and cameos from Jane Fonda and Iggy Pop.
The results already sound like the record Jake Shears was born to make, taking a lifelong affair with club culture towards new heights (and on its second half, almost dystopian depths). In a polymathic career that variously has taken in multi-million global album sales, Brits, Ivor Novellos, an acclaimed memoir, a Broadway show, plus his Olivier-Award-winning musical Tammy Faye, Jake Shears’ pull to keep moving has remained a constant, whether in the heat of the dance floor, or in creating cathartic and unconventional art.
As Jake himself puts it, “while not everyone might make it to the end, it’s the last ones dancing who are rewarded with the most magical moments.”
With work that still speaks evenly to the margins and the masses, Jake Shears’ new solo album will continue a whirlwind of activity for the Scissor Sisters’ frontman.
Recent appearances range from Radio 2’s Piano Rooms (where he was joined by Neil Tennant and the BBC Concert Orchestra) and Saturday Night Takeaway to a surprise appearance at queer London nightclub ‘House of Trash’, the Aladdin Sane tribute at London’s Southbank Centre and an arena tour with Duran Duran. Catch Jake Shears live this summer below, with more news to follow soon.
JAKE SHEARS LIVE DATES & SIGNINGS:
5/30/2023 || Glasgow || SWG3 Warehouse
6/1/2023 || Brighton || Concorde 2
6/2/2023 || London || Village Underground – SOLD OUT
6/4/2023 || London || Mighty Hoopla
6/5/20223 || London || Rough Trade East (In conversation & signing)
6/8/2023 || New York || Barnes & Noble (Signing)
6/18/2023 || Florence || Firenze Rocks
6/24/2023 || Glastonbury || Glastonbury Festival
6/28/2023 || Lytham || Lytham Festival
7/8/2023 || Bristol || Pride
7/23/2023 || Nottingham || Splendour Festival
8/25/2023 || Lincolnshire || Lost Village Festival (DJ Set)
8/27/2023 || Manchester || Pride
Photo credit: Damon Baker
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