Chris Bailey’s final The Saints album out this fall: hear 2 tracks

When Chris Bailey died in 2022 he had been working on a new The Saints album. It was actually recorded in 2018 with longtime Saints drummer Pete Wilkinson, guitarist/engineer Sean Carey, and You Am I’s Davey Lane, among others. That album, Long March Through the Jazz Age, will be out November 28, one day shy of what would’ve been Bailey’s 69th birthday, via Fire Records.

“When it came to recording vocals, Chris Bailey saved the best until last,” says Wilkinson. “His lyrical prowess is well known to those familiar with The Saints, new and old, but these recordings offer a new-found depth and breadth to his voice that surpass anything I had heard before.” Sean Carey adds, “Chris was a true artist, it was like watching someone paint a fresh artwork every single day. This collection of songs and recordings were inspired and felt different to anything else I’d been doing.”

There are two songs you can listen to: the sweeping, melancholic “Empires (Sometimes We Fall)” and the more upbeat and anthemic “Break Away.” Give those a spin below.

Meanwhile, surviving founding Saints members Ed Kuepper and Ivor Hay will be touring as The Saints, backed Mark Arm (Mudhoney), Mick Harvey (Birthday Party, Bad Seeds) and Peter Oxley (Sunnyboys). The tour hits Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on 11/14.

Long March Through the Jazz Age
1. Empires (Sometimes We Fall)
2. Break Away
3. Judas
4. Vikings
5. Gasoline
6. The Key
7. A Vision of Grace
8. Imaginary Fields Forever
9. Bruises
10. Resurrection Day
11. Carnivore (Long March Through the Jazz Age)
12. Will You Still Be There