The alt-rock heroes hail us with a triumphant compendium of top tunes!
Designed to truly tell the tale of The Chords UK, ‘But Then Again’ is an ambitious and inventive collection, featuring new and previously unreleased tracks, remastered / remixed / remade versions of favourites, unashamedly obscure B-sides, and even live recordings.
The main album features 26 tracks – culminating with an acoustic re-working of Top 40 hit ‘Maybe Tomorrow’- with additional bonus material making a total of 44 songs. This is a set of songs that draw on what has gone before – and the fans will find all their favourites – but they have all been revisited and taken to another place!
Songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Chris Pope says “I decided a few years ago to start work on a ‘compilation/ best of’, of sorts. But simply to add 20 plus songs from six albums onto Vinyl/CD and put it out there: that would be far too easy and wouldn’t interest me one bit! Instead, I looked back at songs from the three Pope albums ‘Grace of God’, ‘Tall Tales’, ‘Peace of Mind’ and the Hat-trick of Chords UK albums ‘Take on Life’, ‘Nowhere Land’ and ‘Big City Dreams’, then picked the ones we knew we could ‘dream up’ again or re-imagine. The new tracks are renderings of unrecorded songs written between 1982 up to 2024. Finally, we hit the acoustic guitars, and some old original Chords tunes got laid down too.”
Most recently released new single from ‘But Then Again’ is ‘World Gone Crazy’, an apt social commentary on the insanities of modern society:
The Chords UK were formed over a decade ago to continue playing classic Chords tunes such as ‘Maybe Tomorrow’, ‘The British Way of Life’ and ‘So Far Away’. But Chris isn’t interested in remaining frozen in time, and his aim has always been to push forward, ‘But Then Again: The Best of The Chords UK’ does just that. This album is a milestone, sure, but also a statement of intent – Chris Pope and The Chords UK have plenty to celebrate, but also plenty more to achieve along the way.
The album’s previous single release ‘Eat Seep Work Repeat‘ takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the ‘great British night out’, as the working population numb themselves against the dreary reality of their boring jobs..
We also have the wonderfully nostalgic ‘Indie Disco Friday Night‘, where Chris and co. take us back 30 years to those carefree evenings of music and mayhem!
Chris Pope and The Chords UK have unlocked a veritable treasure trove of music with ‘But Then Again: The Best of The Chords UK’; the melodic aggregate of a journey across the British Mod and Alternative landscape of the last 45 years!
Out NOW (released 4th April 2025) on EPOP Records, get your copy of ‘But Then Again: The Best of The Chords UK’ on triple CD or double album + bonus CD HERE, and from all good record stores, also out digitally via your favourite streaming services.
Catch The Chords UK out on tour this spring, promoting their great new album – tickets and more information HERE
Disc: 1
- British Way Of Life
- Brave New World
- Get Me To Saturday Night
- Love’s Still Here
- White Van Man
- Mutiny On The Thames
- One Happy Man
- Hipsters Of London
- Man On The Northern Line
- Gentrified The Elephant
- Any Fool Knows
- Analogy Of Life
Disc: 2
- Hey Kids! Come The Revolution
- Somewhere Beyond The Rainbow
- Twenty First Century Girl
- Another Thing Coming
- Nine To Five And Me
- Dreams Of Yesterday
- Leave It All Behind
- World Gone Crazy
- Indie Disco Friday Night
- Eat Sleep Work Repeat
- Two Weeks In Heaven
- Land Of Milk & Honey
- But Then Again
- Maybe Tomorrow
Disc: 3
- Get On In Life
- All I Ever Wanted ( Was To Be Wanted By You)
- Bitter Sweet
- Heart Of The Matter
- Veronica Jones
- Take On Life
- Three Minute Pop Song
- One Horse Town
- One More Minute (Acoustic)
- Turn Away Again (Acoustic)
- Twenty First Century Blues
- Running On Dreams
- Welcome To My World
- Before Elvis
- Always Quit While Your Still Ahead ( Pope -Live)
- The Last Thing I Ever Do ( Pope – Live)
- Making Mountains
- Last Man Standing
Follow The Chords UK on Their Socials:
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Usually found jumping around down the front at gigs, I also relish taking photos and videos, singing, speaking with fellow music fans, and asking musicians the questions nobody else does. Writing about my favourite bands and connecting with people who love music too keeps me more-or-less sane! I’ve worked for over 25 years at a video production company, mainly filming live music events, therefore I have an additional backstage perspective on the scene.
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