Ministers they return with a new recording project. Available from May 29th Shadow SongsEP released by Woodworm which collects songs left out of the band's albums over the years and now recovered in a new guise. The release comes after the tour of Aurora Popular and will also accompany the summer 2026 live dates already announced at Italian festivals.
The album was born from an experiment started in 2022, when some tracks were sent to fans through the group's official newsletter. The request was simple: listen to those pieces without spreading them online. A pact which, according to what the Ministerswas completely respected by their community.
For the official release the band took up that material working in the studio together with Ivan Antonio Rossialso adding two unreleased songs. The result is an EP that brings back to the center songs that remained on the margins of the group's discography but never really archived.
Ministers and the songs left off the albums
In Shadow Songs songs written in different periods of the history of the Ministers. Pieces excluded from the albums for different reasons but remained in the band's internal repertoire over time.
“The Shadow Songs are songs left out of our albums for the most disparate reasons, pieces sitting on the opposition benches waiting to come into action. In 2022 we decided to share some of them with our fans via the newsletter and asked them not to upload them online. Thousands downloaded them but no one shared them online”.
The group defined thatrecording experiment based on trustunderlining the relationship built over the years with its audience.
People who persist in living is the focus track of the EP
Among the songs of the project, the main focus is entrusted to People who persist in living. The piece revolves around the idea of daily resistance, told with the direct tone that has characterized the writing of for years Ministers.
Disillusionment and irony coexist in the song, while the text questions what continues to push people forward even in the most chaotic or frustrating moments.
The artwork of Shadow Songs
Even the graphic component follows the visual path already developed by the band in recent years. After the reference to the covers Einaudi inspired by Munari used in 2021, this time the chosen imagery recalls historic musical scores.
The EP will also be available in one side 12'' vinyl format, with smooth B side, trunk packaging and unprinted black inner sleeve.
Ministers concerts 2026: summer dates already announced
- 18 June – Mood Summer Festival – Rende (CS)
- 20 June – The First Summer – Lido di Camaiore (LU)
- 4 July – D'Acord Festival – Lagnasco (CN)
- 10 July – Fool Festival – Morrovalle (MC)
- 11 July – RockUnMonte – Montespertoli (FI)
- 15 July – Jamrock Festival – Vicenza
- 16 July – Invincible Fest c/o Eur Social Park – Rome
- 18 July – Sounds of Brand – Treviso
- 22 July – Ferrara Sotto Le Stelle – Ferrara
- 30 July – Mediterranean Waves – Gradisca d'Isonzo (GO)
- 1 August – PIF Festival – Frigento (AV)
The summer concerts will also bring new material live Shadow Songstogether with the repertoire built by the band over the last twenty years between clubs and festivals.
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Cover image by AstarteAgency
