2017 has been a phenomenally successful year for Southampton sextet CREEPER. Their debut album ‘Eternity, In Your Arms’ received a rapturous critical reception across the board when it was released earlier this year. The album fired straight into the Top 20, and in the process elevated these black-clad outsiders into a mainstream proposition with the potential for an even bigger future.

CREEPER had previously earned Best British Newcomer at the Kerrang! Awards, Best New Band at the Metal Hammer Golden God Awards, and Best British Newcomer in the Rock Sound readers’ poll.

Now CREEPER put the finishing touches on the year by sharing their take on The Pogues’ Christmas classic ‘Fairytale of New York’. It’s a faithful adaptation which adds some raw CREEPER energy to the original, as Will Gould and Hannah Greenwood add some of their own flourishes to their reprisal of Shane MacGowan and Kirstie MacColl’s duet.

‘Fairytale of New York’ will feature on the band’s new ‘Christmas’ EP which will be released on December 8^th. It will also feature brand new original song ‘Same Time Next Year?’ which contrasts the dark romance of Gould’s festive-themed lyrics with a towering holler-along hook. The EP closes with a stripped-back version of ‘Blue Christmas’, the enduring seasonal favourite that was made famous by Elvis Presley.

Of the ‘Christmas’ EP Gould comments, “Ever since we were kids ‘Fairytale of New York’ has always been our favourite Christmas song. Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl trading insults in the lyrics and the overall sad tone of the song always appealed to us – we’ve wanted to cover it for some time. Alongside this we covered ‘Blue Christmas’ and our own original Christmas song too. The three songs form something of a miserable Christmas EP. We are really pleased by how it all came out and hope our fans will be too. “

This weekend sees CREEPER embark upon the ‘Theatre of Fear’ tour which will take their theatrical presentation to a whole new live level. The dates are:

DECEMBER

3^rd – Glasgow, O2 ABC

4^th – Birmingham, O2 Institute

5^th – Bristol, Trinity (SOLD OUT)

7^th – London, O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire

9^th – Manchester, Albert Hall

10^th – Southampton, Guildhall

All shows are now close to selling out. Any remaining tickets are available from livenation.co.uk and ticketmaster.co.uk. Support comes from Can’t Swim, Microwave and Nervus.

The commitment of the CREEPER cult fanbase can be further demonstrated with yesterday’s release of the book ‘Whatever Happened To James Scythe?’ which was published by 404 Ink. Billed as ‘A report for the Ombudsmen of the Preternatural’, the book reopens the case of the mysterious disappearance of the private investigator who has become a central part of the CREEPER  journey so far.