THE THE was formed in London in 1979 by singer-songwriter Matt Johnson. Although he is the only permanent member, it has grown into a multimedia group with a revolving, kaleidoscopic cast of collaborators not only including musicians, but also filmmakers, photographers, visual artists, poets, light sculptors, architects, to name but a few. THE THE’s genre is all their own; it is music of long shadows, high hopes, channelled anger, feverish passions and sweetly disturbing poignancy. It is pop and rock, blues and folk, soul and polemic. It spans alienated electronics to twisted cinematic soundtracks, guitar tumbling swing to crimson ballads, rants and prayers to diaries and hymns. Their most recent studio album, released on 6th September 2024, is Ensoulment.