The orchestral arrangements will be adapted to the late musicians’ songs and are to be conducted by the English composer, conductor and arranger, Jules Buckley, for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Fans will be pleased to know that he will be playing songs such as “It’s Raining Today”, “Copenhagen” and “The Old Man’s Back Again”. 

Scott Walker emerged in the 60’s and caved a fond hole in many hearts of his generation. He was an American-English singer songwriter who rolled of a vocal tone as thick as honey. He was a popstar who ticked off the charts in the 60’s making it as a popstar and delving into baroque rock later in the 70’s. He was best known for brining a legendary experimentation into his sound, later on in his career, setting the scene for the UK’s underground music field.

He died due, due to cancer, at the age of 76 in London on the 22nd March 2019. Ever since this mournful day, where he was those who appreciated him and held in their high spirits have hosted a variety of tributes to him. One of these coming up in May. “Scott Walker has been a unique and challenging titan at the forefront of British music” described his label at the time, 4AD.

Misty regularly took Walker into his referential accounts and so he probably feels a nostalgic pulling to pay his respects towards him. For those who will not attend the concert, highlights of the performance will be broadcast on the 25th of May on BBC Radio 6 and then will be fully released on BBC Radio 3 later on, the date and time are still to be announced.

Father John Misty is now currently touring on a worldwide journey until the end of the summer. Today (17 April) he is playing in Roanoke, VA. Once he’s finished visiting cities in the US he will make his way across the pond to play the tribute on the 19th May. This is a one off special of the tour. The rest of his gigs will not be hosting the orchestral tribute. After visiting London he will be touring around Europe to finally land back in the US by the end of August.

Tickets are available here.

UK Tour Dates:

19/05/2023 – Barbican Centre – London

Band member Noah Lennox says the single is a tribute to Scott Walker, who died around the time of the track’s writing (March 2019). Walker was a famous singer of the 1960s as part of the Walker Brothers and went on to create increasingly experimental solo records, moving from a distinctly baroque pop approach in the late sixties to avant-garde works from the ’90s until his death in 2019. If you want to see just the extent of this stylistic evolution, you can look at the two tracks below. Lennox said that “Scott’s music has meant a lot to me and he’ll always be a big inspiration. But there’s also a kind of exhaustion and resignation to the singer of ‘Walker’ that belies a darker layer”.


The single is the second release from the band’s upcoming new album, Time Skiffs, which will be out next February 4^th via Domino. The first release came last October with the song “Prester John“. The video to this song was directed by Jason Lester and had a similarly experimental vibe, seeing the band perform amid a light show that continually obscures and changes the band’s surroundings.

A press release describes the new album as being “like listening in on a conversation among four old friends, just as it felt during their inchoate early days or their Strawberry Jam heyday. These nine songs are love letters, distress signals, en plein air observations, and relaxation hymns, the collected transmissions of four people who have grown into relationships and parenthood and adult worry. But they are rendered with Animal Collective’s singular sense of exploratory wonder, same as they ever were. There are harmonies so rich you want to skydive through their shared air, textures so fascinating you want to decode their sorcery, rhythms so intricate you want to untangle their sources.”

Time Skiffs will be released in a number of formats, ranging from CD, 2xLP and digital release. You can also pre-order a limited edition deluxe 2xLP on starburst ruby and black vinyl here. The album’s release will be supported by a spring tour of North America, as well as a date in Spain, that begins next March. The band will be supported by experimental composer L’Rain (Taja Cheek). For those interested in getting tickets and seeing details of tour dates, you can look here. The tracklist for the new album can be seen below.

Time Skiffs tracklisting

1. Dragon Slayer
2. Car Keys
3. Prester John
4. Strung with Everything
5. Walker
6. Cherokee
7. Passer-by
8. We Go Back
9. Royal and Desire