The Pogues have said that Shane MacGowan's "spirit lives on", as they look ahead to celebrating their second album 'Rum Sodomy & The Lash' next year.
The band confirmed plans to perform the entire album in full next year, celebrating its 40th anniversary, which will see them take in a run of several shows next May.
Speaking recently, The Pogues' banjo player Jem Finer has said that late singer Shane MacGowan was "irreplaceable", adding that his essence had been "flowing through" guest singers at shows. Finer co-wrote 'Fairytale of New York' alongside MacGowan.
“A lot of the music he wrote, and most of it he sang, even if he didn’t write it", Finer said. “He’s an irreplaceable person, but somehow his spirit lives on in these people, in working with these other singers, it’s kind of like flowing through them, so he’s very much there, very celebratory and beautifully respectful".
“It’s a spiritual thing without being contrived at all, which if it hadn’t worked like that, we wouldn’t be doing this amazing thing that blossomed into one concert and another and has led to that uncontrivable thing".
Earlier this year, The Pogues had performed a string of shows across the UK to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their debut album, Red Roses For Me.
The band will also honour this album at Dublin's 3Arena next month (December 17), where they will be joined by special guests Fontaines D.C Grian Chatten, and singer Nadine Shah ahead of their second album shows next year.
In a recent interview, The Pogues' Spider Stacy had revealed that Fontaines D.C drummer Tom Coll suggested that the trio should do something to honour the 40th anniversary of Red Roses for Me.
Stacy explained: “Well, it started when, back in May, we did a show at Hackney Empire in London, 40 years of Red Roses For Me, and it very quickly became apparent that we were going to have to do something to mark 40 years of Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, because the Hackney show was so popular and went so well, and hopefully the Dublin show is going to be the same".
The Pogues bandmember also added that special guests for next year's shows were yet to be decided at that stage, adding that they “suggested themselves almost”.
“It was only ever meant to be a little thing, but became something much, much bigger than it was intended to be,” he added. “I asked Nadine Shah, I’ve always loved her voice, and when Shane died, she just did a really very cool post, just marking his death, which I liked the tone of, I really like what she wrote, I’d never met her".
“So I just thought, she would be great doing The Auld Triangle", he added. “I asked her if she’d fancy doing it, and she came straight back and said she’d love to, and then other people, it kind of all falls into place".
Shane MacGowan died aged 65 last November.
