The estate of the late Chris Bailey have announced the release of Long March Through The Jazz Age, the 15th and final studio album by his band The Saints. The album is set for release on Friday, November 28th via Fire Records, a day before what would have been Bailey’s 69th birthday. To coincide with the announcement, the album’s lead single has been shared; it can be heard below.
‘Empires (Sometimes We Fall)’ is the first new music from the band in 13 years, following what was long believed to be the band’s final studio album King Of The Sun in 2012. It, along with the rest of Long March Through The Jazz Age, was recorded in 2018 at Church Street Studios in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Camperdown. Bailey was joined by guitarists Sean Carey (ex-Thirsty Merc) and Davey Lane (of You Am I), as well as longtime drummer Peter Wilkinson.
The Saints – ‘Empires (Sometimes We Fall)’
“Chris was a true artist,” said Carey – who also produced Long March – in a press statement. “It was like watching someone paint a fresh artwork every single day. This collection of songs and recordings were inspired and felt different to anything else I’d been doing.” Wilkinson, too, noted that Bailey’s performance was one of the best he had seen in the 2018 album sessions – having appeared on every Saints album from 2000’s Spit The Blues Out onwards. “When it came to recording vocals, Chris saved the best until last,” he said. “His lyrical prowess is well known to those familiar with The Saints, new and old, but these recordings offer a new-found depth and breadth to his voice that surpass anything I had heard before.”
Bailey died in 2022, at the age of 65. “Chris and I met when we were about 14, during detention at Oxley High School, and became close friends – which later developed into what I always thought was an extremely strong artistic partnership,” wrote Ed Kuepper – the band’s co-founder and original guitarist – at the time of Bailey’s death. “I couldn’t have asked for a better singer.” Longtime friend and Saints fan Nick Cave, too, paid tribute to the late Bailey by calling him his “favourite singer”.
Kuepper and original Saints drummer Ivor Hay formed The Saints 73–78, a spin-off group paying tribute to the band’s early years, in 2024. The pair were joined by Mudhoney frontman Mark Arm on lead vocals, as well as Sunnyboys bassist Peter Oxley and former Bad Seed Mick Harvey on guitar and keyboards. The ensuing tour was a sell-out success nationally, with the original dates expanded upon to meet demand. The supergroup was not without its critics, however; namely, Bailey’s estate, who alleged that they “were [not] informed or consulted on this decision” and that the pair attempted “to reduce or negate the role Chris Bailey played in the original Saints” in interviews.
Tim Pittman, Kuepper’s manager, responded at the time that neither Kuepper nor Hay “need[ed] to get anyone’s approval to perform the songs that they wrote and recorded”. To avoid legal confusion with The Saints – a name which the Bailey estate holds the rights to – the group is billed as the legally-distinct moniker of The Saints ’73–’78. This, per Pittman, was a moniker Bailey had allegedly approved of while still alive. “After having agreed to terms with Chris prior to his death, and the other members of The Saints, we use it… to differentiate ourselves from the other Saints,” he said.
“[The estate] requested of us to use that name moving forward in whatever manner we were using it to promote that era of the band. We were already using it anyway, so it was a no-brainer for us to say yes. The Bailey estate took exception to the fact that Chris had agreed to everything prior.” The band will headline the 4ZZZ 50th birthday celebrations in Brisbane in October, before embarking on a North American and European tour with Wollongong band Chimers in November.
Long March Through The Jazz Age can be both pre-saved and pre-ordered by clicking here.
Further Reading
triple j’s Hottest 200 Of Australian Songs: The Complete List
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The Saints Drummer & Music Journalist Iain Shedden Dies, Aged 60
