Political rockers New Model Army play Northampton show

The band released Winter last year and the LP was their first full studio album since 2013’s acclaimed Between Dog and Wolf in 2013. Winter received the best critical response of their career and featured in the top 30 chart positions in UK and Germany – their highest since The Love of Hopeless Causes 20 years ago.Lead singer and main songwriter Justin Sullivan said: “Between Dog and Wolf opened up a lot of creative doors for us, so it was exciting to go and look inside. “The results were not necessarily planned as usual we felt our way – but I think Winter has a really strong identity. “It is very much the sound of people in difficult places something that so many of us can relate to at the moment, on a lot of different levels. “It is a much more of a band album and we made a deliberate choice in mixing it to sound more aggressive and a little less polished”.Formed by Justin Sullivan in Bradford in 1980, New Model Army’s beginnings were inspired by Northern Soul, punk rock and the incendiary atmosphere of the times. Since then, they have been massively influential in post-punk, folk-rock, political-rock, goth, metal and all kinds of musical sub-cultures.New Model Army still have album sales in the millions, have attracted some of the biggest producers on the planet and have built up an almost religious devotion among fans.Having grasped early on that the Internet was going to revolutionise the music industry, from the mid-1990s they set out on the wholly independent path of controlling all aspects of their output. As a result, they have been perfectly placed to withstand the changes in the industry and have outlasted most of their peers. Originally formed as a three piece, the current five piece features Michael Dean on drums, Dean White on keyboards and guitar, Marshall Gill on guitar and Ceri Monger on bass. Already well into part one of the Winter tour, the shows have been some of the best ever and the band are looking forward to continuing the tour for the rest of 2017.New Model Army headline the Roadmender on Sunday, April 2. Doors 7pm, £20 in advance before fees.