XTC's Andy Partridge has unveiled their new musical project The 3 Clubmen.

With this project, Partridge joins forces with frequent collaborators Jen Olive and Stu Rowe. The three have worked together several times in the past: Olive and Patridge worked on Rowe’s previous project Lighterthief while Patridge and Row worked on Olive’s solo material. In 2010, the trio decided to work together on a musical project called The 3 Clubmen, which was named after the local defence volunteer groups formed during the English Civil War.

Patridge said this about their new band:

"Like an 'action painter' throws colour at a canvas, we tend to throw musical and sound things, knowing that we'll cut through this seemingly insane mess later, to hopefully find some beautiful garden, hiding there. I throw paint, Jen throws paint, Stu throws paint...and we walk away. If, when we return, something in there calls to us, we'll move heaven and earth to get it out and let it breath. Using whatever it takes, be it contrary musical ideas, parts in clashing keys incongruous sounds, contradictory words/phrases. Its all clay to us."

Rowe also said:

"The Clubmen project is something I’ve been messing about with for years - it's the one thing that everyone who hears it says I should finish. It was great fun to make and I think we’ve managed to create something really quite interesting between all three of our musical sensibilities.”

Jen Olive states:

"The joy is it… so much humor… the lyrics reflect the spirit of the conversations… the call and response. There’s an ecstatic quality to it. it's thrilling to have people share in that."

The first single from The 3 Clubmen titled "Aviatrix" can be heard below. The song stems from the band’s forthcoming self-titled debut EP, which will be released on June 30 via Burning Shed. The four-song release was recorded and produced between 2010 and 2023 in The Lighterthief Bunker in Swindon, England. Pre-orders can be made on Burning Shed’s webstore here.

The 3 Clubmen tracklisting

1. Aviatrix
2. Racecar  
3. Green Green Grasshopper
4. Look At Those Stars