Crooked Timber
Crooked Timber is the twelfth studio album by Therapy?, released in March 2009. It was their first record for Demolition Records, and it was made with producer Andy Gill. The band recorded it over the summer of 2008 at Blast Studios in Newcastle, adding further sessions at The Beauchamp Building in London. It sits between One Cure Fits All and A Brief Crack of Light in their catalogue.
The title comes from a line by Kant, and the songs take up the idea of celebrating human quirks and what it means to be aware of our own mortality. Andy Cairns has said the band wrote it together, with each track built around its own concept. Expect a record that leans towards rhythm rather than melody, with nods to Waiting for Godot in "Clowns Galore" and a rhythmic figure from Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in "Bad Excuse For Daylight".
Crooked Timber: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 49:21Tracklist
- 1The Head That Tried to Strangle ItselfCairns, Cooper, McKeegan3:25
- 2Enjoy the StruggleCairns, Cooper, McKeegan4:10
- 3Clowns GaloreCairns, Cooper, McKeegan3:42
- 4ExilesCairns, Cooper, Gill, McKeegan5:36
- 5Crooked TimberCairns, Cooper, McKeegan5:52
- 6I Told You I Was IllCairns, Cooper, McKeegan3:51
- 7SomnambulistCairns, Cooper, McKeegan4:05
- 8Blacken the PageCairns, Cooper, McKeegan2:47
- 9Magic MountainCairns, Cooper, McKeegan10:04
- 10Bad Excuse for DaylightCairns, Cooper, McKeegan5:49
- Produced by
- Andy Gill
- Recorded at
- Blast Studios, Newcastle, England and August–September 2008 at The Beauchamp Building, London, England
- Recorded
- July–August 2008
- Mixed by
- Andy Cairns, Adam Sinclair
- Engineered by
- Andy Gill, Sam Morton
- Labels
- DR2 Records, Demolition Records
- Length
- 49:21
Line-up
- Andy Cairns · guitar family, vocals · guest
- Neil Cooper · membranophone · guest
- Michael McKeegan · electric bass guitar · guest
Singles
- “Crooked Timber” · 18 May 2009
- “Exiles” · 7 July 2010
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2009 | 197 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) · 2009 | 98 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 23 March
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More from Therapy?
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The best of 2009
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 2009-03-23 vs 2009-03-20 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 20 March 2009 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 23 March 2009 | |
| Wikidata | 2009 | |
| UK / Europe release | 20 March 2009 | earliest UK or European date |
3 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 March 2009 | GB | DR2 Records | 5060011195091 | original |
| 2010 | GB | DR2 Records | 5060011199099 | deluxe |
| 10 June 2022 | GB | Demolition Records | 196626295033 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 500×500 | upscaled |