VIA PRESS RELEASE | London Records are to reissue Flowered Up’s debut album A Life With Brian for the first time since its original release in 1991, newly remastered and available on double LP and CD, extended digital, and limited coloured double LP on 19th April. Pre-order here.
Including new sleevenotes by Heavenly’s Robin Turner, the reissue adds their seminal 1992 single “Weekender” to the album package plus a host of previously unreleased tracks and remixes, including newly commissioned remixes by Everyone You Know and Beyond The Wizards Sleeve.
Upcoming duo Everyone We Know’s thrilling contemporary take on “Crackerjack” is available now. They comment: “Taking inspiration from some late ’90s Ibiza tunes and early rave stuff, this is our remix of “Crackerjack.” We were honoured when Flowered Up reached out to us for the remix. At first we weren’t sure what direction to take it in but the longer we sat with the stems it became obvious it needed something for the clubs and DJs.”
Beyond The Wizards Sleeve remix “Weekender,” the first remix in seven years from DJ/Producer duo of Erol Alkan and Richard Norris. They comment: “Flowered Up’s ‘Weekender’ is a work of a very special magic, of a particular time, place, feeling that you can hear busting out of the speakers. It was a challenge to take on such an iconic work, but we attacked it and pulled it into a few new shapes which nod to the original while taking it someplace else. Do you believe in magic?”
Emerging out of the Capital’s now legendary Acid House scene, Flowered Up were heralded as London’s answer to the Happy Mondays and were so hot that they made the cover of both NME and Melody Maker before they’d even released a record. The ten tracks on A Life With Brian represent a snapshot of a band who perfectly reflected their environment—the London streets they grew up on and the clubs they came of age in.
Released the following summer, Flowered Up’s Clive Langer-produced thirteen minute masterpiece “Weekender” is included on the album package for the very first time. The single was accompanied by a ground-breaking short film directed by Wiz, whose raw depiction of a weekend of clubbing is perhaps the single greatest document of early ’90s rave culture and was the subject of the acclaimed 2022 Heavenly Films documentary I Am Weekender.
The album remastering was overseen by Flowered Up keyboard player Tim Dorney, and A Life With Brian now sounds the way the band always wanted it to sound. Tim explains: “Modern mastering techniques have made it sound so much better… We went through the original 1/2-inch tape track by track and using a mix of modern software and some classic analogue pieces, we made it louder, wider, and punchier all round.”
Sounding better than ever, this comprehensive reissue of A Life With Brian offers a fresh perspective into the frenziedly exciting, all too brief musical career of Flowered Up. Although they started out playing at acid house clubs, they were very much a rock ’n’ roll band. A gang who embodied the spirit of their times, stepping from the darker corners of the dance floor onto the stage in a seamless transition from working the cash economy to soundtracking the very highest points of the night. Sing it loud: “let me touch the world / I’ll make it good, I’ll make it fine.”
