It’s Immaterial’s John Campbell (left) and Jarvis Whitehead take an unusual approach to the traditional band shot with photographer Alastair Thain
It’s late June, and, across the city, fans are still revelling in the news that Liverpool FC have finally been crowned Premier League champions. It’s been 30 years since they last triumphed in the top tier and, despite an ongoing coronavirus lockdown, fireworks continue to light up the skies most nights. There’s another quieter celebration going on this afternoon, though: almost 30 years after they began work on it, It’s Immaterial’s John Campbell and Jarvis Whitehead have just received the test pressings for their third album.
House For Sale belatedly follows the release of 1990’s masterful but neglected Song, recorded with Calum Malcolm around the same time as he worked on The Blue Nile’s Hats, with which it shares many magical qualities. It’s even longer – 34 years! – since It’s Immaterial first won hearts and minds with their single hit, the eccentric but, to all who heard it, unforgettable Driving Away From Home (Jim’s Tune), which ran out of gas just inside the Top 20. So, might House For Sale be their Jürgen Klopp, sending them, like their adopted hometown’s famous Reds, to the top? “Oh!” singer and lyricist Campbell gasps, as amused as he’s astonished. “It’s not our position to say that, is it? But we’re back on the field, playing football…”