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Arctic Monkeys release new single through Oxfam Ireland shops
Single available from Friday 14th August 2009
Photo: Miles Walkden/Oxfam
Arctic Monkeys are set to record another music industry first when they release their new single, ‘ Crying Lightning', in select Oxfam Ireland shops, with proceeds going to help the charity's lifesaving work in east, central and southern Africa. In ROI the single will be available at Oxfam Ireland shops in Cork, Ennis, Galway, Oxfambooks on Parliament Street, Rathmines and South King Street in Dublin; in Northern Ireland, the single can be purchased from the Belfast Oxfambooks shops in Rosemary Street and Botanic Avenue.
The limited-edition 7”, which is the first single from new album Humbug , features a cover of the Nick Cave classic ‘Red Right Hand' as a B-side, and goes on sale in ROI on Friday 14 th August, with the NI release on Monday 17 th August .
The ‘Crying Lightning' 7” will cost €3.99/£2.99 and each single will come with a download code allowing fans to get an MP3 version of the songs for free.
Last year alone the 48 Oxfam shops across the island raised over €300,000/£300,000 through music sales, enough to fund its entire programme in Kitgum, Northern Uganda. The programme is assisting people who have lived in camps for the last 10 years to return to their home villages and rebuild their lives and livelihoods.
Domino and Arctic Monkeys are also calling on music fans to bring in any unwanted albums or singles to their local Oxfam shop when they pick up their copy of the single, to help Oxfam keep turning yesterday's hits into vital funds for years to come.
Laurence Bell, founder of Domino, said: “ Oxfam is a institution and it's a delight to be working together on this project. There are 48 Oxfam shops in Ireland , many of them in high streets that once housed a record shop, so as well as raising some money for a great cause we are able to get vinyl back onto the nation's high streets, which feels good.
“We encourage all customers to bring something of value to donate to the store when they come down to buy the new Arctic Monkeys single.”
Trevor Anderson, Oxfam's head of Retail, said: “We were thrilled when we heard about Domino's idea for the new Arctic Monkeys single and are delighted to be partnering with them on something that will be great for music fans, and help us raise money to fight the injustice of poverty at the same time.
“Oxfam shops have always been one of the best places on the high street to pick up a musical bargain or find a rare treasure, and this is a fantastic reason to pay your local shop a visit.”
Oxfam has an illustrious musical history spanning decades:
- Oxfam Ireland sells around 1.8 million CDs and records every year, all donated by the Irish public. The largest single donation was of 25,000 vinyl albums to an Oxfam shop in Belfast in 2004.
- The charity's Oxjam festival runs every year during the month of October, so start organising your gigs now!
- Oxfam has been one of the lead charities at Glastonbury since 1993, raising £2.7 million through stewarding the festival and signing up more than 400,000 people in support of its campaigns at the festival.
- The charity has been involved with everything from The Cake Sale CD in 2006 to its own Make Trade Fair concert, and has worked with everyone from Chris Martin, Michael Stipe, BellX1 and Gary Lightbody.
Arctic Monkeys are Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Matt Helders and Nick O'Malley. The band have released two UK number 1 albums, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not and Favourite Worst Nightmare . Their forthcoming album Humbug goes on sale nationwide on 24 August.
There will also be a 10” release featuring B-sides ‘Red Right Hand' and a new original song ‘I Haven't Got My Strange'. A limited number of independent record shops will also stock the 7”.
Links
See a report on the single from RTE News (the relevant segment starts at 19:30)
Arctic Monkeys official website
Notes to Editors
For more information, images, or to arrange an interview with a spokesperson from Oxfam or Domino, please contact:
Phillip Graham
Oxfam Ireland media officer
0044 (0) 28 9089 5959 / phillip.graham@oxfamireland.org
Colleen Maloney
Domino Records
0208 875 4007 / 07764 938027 / colleen@dominorecordco.com
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