"Horseshoe" is the first single from Withered Hand's album "New Gods," and features a guest appearance from Pam Berry (Black Tambourine) on backing vocals.

Fortuna POP! (UK/Europe) and Slumberland Records (US/Canada) are proud to announce the new album by the Edinburgh based folk-rock troubadour Dan Willson who records as WITHERED HAND. “New Gods” is his stunning second album, following his critically acclaimed debut “Good News”.

Active in the world of visual art and dabbling in music for many years, Withered Hand’s Dan Willson came late to singing and songwriting at age 30, in a period of reflection between the death of a close friend and the birth of his first child. The resultant material, much of which went on to become the album “Good News,” has been praised for its depth and startling honesty.

Withered Hand has been embraced by Fife-based musical powerhouse the Fence Collective (whose sovereign King Creosote guests on the new album), seen his songs picked up on MTV and cult series Skins, and gained a legion of fans including Jarvis Cocker and Rolling Stone Magazine USA (who decreed him “Artist to Watch”).

A prolific live performer, recent Withered Hand shows have included collaborations with Pam Berry of seminal 90's US noise-pop band Black Tambourine and a rotating cast of musical friends embellishing Dan's exuberant and original songwriting alongside fragile and uplifting solo performances.

The long-awaited second album (produced by Tony Doogan – Mountain Goats/Belle & Sebastian etc - and part-funded by arts council body Creative Scotland) features guest appearances from the likes of Pam Berry, Eugene Kelly of The Vaselines and members of Belle & Sebastian and Frightened Rabbit.

The five years since “Good News” was recorded has seen Willson honing his songcraft, building his audience and gaining critical momentum. “New Gods” is a beautifully executed collection of songs from one of Scotland’s most gifted songwriters.

“Beautifully constructed lyrical frameworks ... on this banjo-tinged brand of Caledonian gospel” – **** MOJO

“the UK’s best lyricist” – King Creosote, in The Independent

“Killer melodies ... wobbly folk grooves ... tunes full of warm, woozy sing-song charm” – 'Artist to Watch', Rolling Stone

Withered Hand - Horseshoe

Slumberland began operations in 1989, inspired by such musical happenings as C-86, early Creation, Sarah, Postcard, and the UK post-punk indie label scene. Since then we've covered a lot of territory, from punk to lofi noise to shoegaze and of course pop, releasing records from bands like The Aislers Set, Boyracer, Stereolab, Rocketship, Lorelei, The Ropers, The Saturday People and Black Tambourine.

By the mid 2000s we were starting to see a resurgence of interest in guitar pop and the start of the ongoing vinyl revival: the perfect environment for Slumberland! We launched into our latest phase of activity with as string of classic releases from The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Crystal Stilts, Frankie Rose, Veronica Falls, Allo Darlin', Joanna Gruesome and so many more.

2018 is our twenty-ninth year we are still going strong, ploughing our own furrow and bringing you unique, genre-defining (and genre-defying!) releases from bands like Smokescreens, Tony Molina, Papercuts, Business of Dreams, Peel Dream Magazine, D.A. Stern, The Spook School, Frankie Rose, Young Guv, Terry Malts and many, many more. As always, we operate entirely outside of the echo chamber of trends, fashion and phoney hipness. Slumberland bands are independent in the best way possible -- making music devoid of bullshit and true to their own voices, regardless of current popular taste.