On May 1st, Britpop legends Sleeper announced that after over two decades they would be returning to the studio. [Read our first news item on the new album here.]
Funded through Pledge Music, fans were given the opportunity to pledge for the album in a variety of formats.
The Sleeper reunion was the most exciting thing to happen in 2017.
The band were due to reform for four shows in August only – appearing at the Star Shaped Festival – but from there, things snowballed. They subsequently sold out the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in December and then announced another tour for March 2018…again a sell out.
This year’s Victorious Festival already looked like one of the year’s best events, boasting appearances by Paul Weller, Lightning Seeds, Bluetones and Billy Bragg.
It’s just got better, with confirmed appearances from both Dub Pistols and the legendary Brian Wilson. It’s not yet known whether Wilson will play a varied set or the whole of ‘Pet Sounds’ as he has at other recent shows, but his appearance at Victorious really adds something to an already impressive bill.
In August 2017, the Star Shaped Festival brought a line up of classic Britpop to four cities. The events were much loved by fans, not least of all because the festival featured the unexpected return of Sleeper.
As always, it’s been an interesting year for music, but unlike a few previous years, there have been no clear winners or stand-outs. There has been a lot of great music, of course…and this year, we’ve found it very hard to pick favourites.
Our top ten albums, as always, has been restricted to things that actually got reviewed at Real Gone and very much represent our broad musical scope. Hopefully, a couple of our choices will align with yours, but more importantly, we hope our top picks will open your ears to something new.