Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh has decided to do what no one saw coming: release a disco album.
Titled Men In Love, the album lands July 24 — the same day his upcoming Trainspotting sequel novel drops. That’s right: double trouble from the king of Scottish grit, and this time it comes with high BPMs and a glitterball.
Welsh didn’t go it alone either. He penned the lyrics and teamed up with the Sci-Fi Soul Orchestra to bring it all to life — a project described as “classic Motown and disco influences with contemporary electronic dance production.” Basically, it’s like Studio 54 collided with the Leith housing scheme and came out shimmering.
The first single, A Man In Love With Love, is already out and it’s a vibe. It’s tongue-in-cheek, a little sleazy, and unexpectedly groovy — sort of like if Barry White dropped MDMA in a chip shop.
In typical Welsh fashion, there’s a socio-political edge buried under the strobe lights. “In uncertain times, dominated by soul-dead oligarchs… the great positive constant for humanity remains our infinite capacity for love,” he says. It’s disco with a manifesto — dancefloor hedonism as protest.
“No matter how confused our men (and women) have been in the quest for love… our real predilections are to party like it’s 2099,” he adds. “So don’t diss the disco, let’s dance away the heartache or die trying, because nothing else makes any sense.”
That’s Irvine Welsh in a nutshell: part philosopher, part party starter, always up for a bit of chaos. And let’s be honest — if anyone’s going to soundtrack a Trainspotting sequel with a disco album, it may as well be the man who gave us Renton, Spud, and a dead baby on the ceiling.
Men In Love drops July 24. So get your flares ready. You can listen to the track below.
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