Richard Thompson announces 20th album, Hippies, Thugs and Heroes

Hippies, Thugs and Heroes follows Thompson's 2024 album Ship to Shore, and sees Thompson tell the stories of various characters, ranging from old friends to former selves — showcasing him in different roles of songwriter, singer, guitarist, and bandleader. “You look over the body of songs you've written and ask yourself, which ones are kindred spirits?” says Thompson. “You look for commonality among the songs, and it's also a joy when you realise that certain songs seem to be brothers and sisters.”

"Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking" arrives as the first taster of the collection of songs. The track follows a series of characters hustling in London: a “carousel queen” overwhelmed by the big city, a soldier quoting Shakespeare, “a Kings Road Hippie,” and a “Sauchiehall thug".

The album was recorded at Hobosound Studio in Weehawken, after Thompson initially wrote and demoed elaborate home recordings of the songs for his backing band, which includes Taras Prodaniuk on bass, Michael Jerome on drums, David Mansfield on guitar and fiddle, and his wife Zara Phillips on backing vocals. “It's so much fun to mess around at home and disappear down in the basement for hours at a time. I even bought myself a drumkit,” he says of the process. “You could say there's much more of my identity being transferred to the final product.”

Hippies, Thugs and Heroes will be available across digital platforms and on physical formats, including and standard black vinyl and CD, as well as limited edition coloured vinyl variants with autographed inserts, and an autographed limited edition CD variant.

Hippies, Thugs and Heroes artwork

Hippies, Thugs and Heroes tracklist

"Sorcerer’s Apprentice"
"Cocaine Walking, Booze Talking"
"Pauper’s Grave"
"Unsung Hero"
"Make Believe You Don’t Know Me"
"She Burns It All"
"Everybody’s Stealing"
"The Soul In Me"
"Pipe Dreams"
"The Big Smoke"
"Stringer"
"Siren"