Darkland (2017)

The new album "Into The Woods" will be released by Cherry Red Records on the 5th May. In many ways, it is the perfect sequel to last year’s acclaimed concept studio album and live stage show, The Machine Stops, which was inspired by E.M. Forster's Sci-fi classic, a dystopian vision of the future brought to life with characteristic Hawkwind style.

Sad Clowns & Hillbillies marks the first time in a decade that a John Mellencamp studio record finds him in the producer's chair. It's the first time ever that he's shared billing on an album cover. Carlene Carter is a singer/songwriter and music biz veteran; the daughter of country music royalty – Carl Smith and June Carter Cash – making her the stepdaughter of Johnny. She and Mellencamp worked together on 2012's Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the musical theater project he scored for Stephen King; they collaborated further on the soundtrack for Ithaca – the "Sugar Hill Mountain" reprised here is one of a handful of excellent duets between them. Things don't begin well, however.

The new album "Into The Woods" will be released by Cherry Red Records on the 5th May. In many ways, it is the perfect sequel to last year’s acclaimed concept studio album and live stage show, The Machine Stops, which was inspired by E.M. Forster's Sci-fi classic, a dystopian vision of the future brought to life with characteristic Hawkwind style.