The The's Matt Johnson signs up for online 'Infected' listening party

Matt Johnson of The The will take a rare look back, with the frontman signing up for the latest in Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess‘ online listening parties.

Burgess made the announcement today (April 12), revealing that a playback of the band’s acclaimed 1986 album ‘Infected’ will commence at 10pm UK time on April 23.

It’s something of a coup for the project, with Johnson rarely inclined to look back at old work.

Meanwhile, a playback of Pulp‘s ‘Different Class’ was also recently announced for Burgess’ listening parties, with the legendary group reviving their Twitter account just for the occasion.

“Pulp will rise again this weekend for #timstwitterlisteningparty with “Different Class” at 9pm on Easter Sunday,” the band said in their first tweet since 2011.

“It all happened a long, long time ago but if you have any questions about this record, we’ll try to answer.”

Burgess’ listening parties began on March 23 with a playback of The Charlatans’ ‘Some Friendly’, followed by the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Oasis‘ Bonehead and Liam Gallagher and Blur‘s Dave Rowntree taking part.








Speaking to NME about the project, Burgess said:It’s an inclusive thing and it’s fun, which is something we need to have. It’s at 10pm for a reason, as a distraction from the Ten O’Clock News – anyone can watch the news at any other time of the day, so it’s not a protest.

“It’s less than 45 minutes, everyone seems to be able to say what they wanna say, it’s a great way for fans to find out what goes on behind the making of an album.”