New Music: Robyn Hitchcock – “The Shuffle Man”

[Stereogum]

BY CHRIS DEVILLE

Robyn Hitchcock will release his first album in five years this fall. The one-time Soft Boy is dropping SHUFFLEMANIA! in October, and its opening track “The Shuffle Man” is out today. It’s a nervy, jangly, reverb-laden rocker that sounds a bit like Bob Dylan doing power-pop.

A note from Hitchcock:

Hello dear listener,

I am thrilled to be unleashing my new record album SHUFFLEMANIA! on the world.

What is SHUFFLEMANIA!? It’s surfing fate, trusting your intuition, and bullfighting with destiny. It’s embracing the random and dancing with it, even when it needs to clean its teeth. It’s probably the most consistent album I’ve made. It’s a party record, with a few solemn moments, as parties are wont to supply. Groove on, groovers!

Love on ye,

RH x

Nashville, July 2022

Hear “The Shuffle Man” below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “The Shuffle Man”
02 “The Inner Life Of Scorpio”
03 “The Feathery Serpent God”
04 “Midnight Tram To Nowwhere”
05 “Socrates In Thin Air”
06 “Noirer Than Noir”
07 “The Man Who Loves The Rain”
08 “The Sir Tommy Shovel”
09 “The Raging Muse”
10 “One Day (It’s Being Scheduled)”

SHUFFLEMANIA! is out 10/21 on Tiny Ghost. Pre-order it here.