80s band Fairground Attraction release new single / New album and tour coming later this month

‘Learning To Swim’ is exactly how you want a new Fairground Attraction song to sound; pure pop with a breezy melody, addictive chorus, and Eddi sounding better than ever. Of all of the new songs it’s nearest thing you’ll find to their huge hit ‘Perfect,’ but this is an older and a wiser band, looking at life through a different lens as they sing about taking that leap of faith in life. Mark Nevin on the track:

“When my oldest son was a young thing, waddling around the shallow end of the swimming pool in his inflatable arm bands, we looked on in awe as a fearless and athletic diver launched himself, impressively, from the top of the Olympic-height diving board into the deep end.

‘Learning To Swim,’ follows the release of abum title track, ‘Beautiful Happening’. Originally written for opera tenor Andrea Bocelli, Mark Nevin was inspired by Andrea’s powerful performance in Milan Cathedral during the 2020 lockdown. Bocelli passed on the song but his loss was Fairground Attraction’s gain, capturing perfectly the spirit of their rebirth and giving them the title of their album and tour. Watch the video here

There is no other band like Fairground Attraction – The band’s meteoric rise to the top of the charts in the late 80s was as surprising as it was welcome, not least for the members themselves, who struggled with having their lives turned upside down and, unfortunately, the whole thing was over too soon, leaving a legacy of just four singles and one double-platinum album, The First of a Million Kisses.

During the past three decades, a lot of water has passed under a lot of bridges and when the estranged members of Fairground Attraction finally re-opened communication last year, they realised there was a lot more that united them than divided them. Soon afterwards, in an impromptu moment, Eddi joined Mark on stage at one of his solo shows to sing the Fairground Attraction favourite ‘Allelujia’ and suddenly – finally – the door was open for more.

The band announced their return in March, with the first single, ‘What’s Wrong With The World?’ The new album, ‘Beautiful Happening’ is out September 27th.

“I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be back together, making music again,” reflects Mark, “I think we had all given up hope that it would ever happen a long time ago. It is almost spooky, as though we are ghosts, who have come back to life, but something happens between us when we play together; time evaporates and it could all have been yesterday.”

Fans will also have the chance to see the band live this autumn, with their first UK tour since they split in 1990. Full dates below, Special guest Scott Matthews will be opening all shows: