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It’s a busy time for Ray Davies, with the release of a choral album, ‘The Kinks Choral Collection’, a short UK tour, a single with Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde and a Kinks movie on the way.

The Kinks Choral Collection The Kinks Choral Collection features arrangements of many of The Kinks’ classic numbers, including ‘Waterloo Sunset’, ‘You Really Got Me’, ‘Shangri-La’, ‘Village Green Preservation Society’ and ‘All Day and All of the Night.’ The CD was released in the USA on November 10th and re-released in the UK with extra bonus track on December 7th.

‘The Kinks Choral Collection’ has been generally well received and for fans of The Kinks it’s an essential purchase. Terry Staunton of ‘Record Collector’ summed it up nicely when noting “…it’s a powerfully evocative record that adds fresh colours and detail to some already gorgeous musical landscapes.”

Listen to clips of ‘The Kinks Choral Collection’

Ray Davies UK tour

The UK tour commenced at the Corn Exchange on December 11th and will end at the Hammersmith Apollo on December 19th. The Crouch End Festival Chorus backed Davies on the CD and are joining him for two of the tour dates at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham and the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.

Go here for full details of the tour.

Postcards from London – Ray Davies and Chrissie Hynde

The new single, ‘Postcard from London’, was released on December 11th, and reunites Davies with Chrissie Hynde,for whom he left the first of his three wives 30 years ago.

Temple on board for Kinks movie

Fans of The Kinks will also be interested to know that a film about the band is to be made. There are no cast details yet, but Julien Temple has been named as the director. Temple previously directed the Sex Pistols documentaries ‘Great Rock’n’ Roll Swindle’ and ‘The Filth and the Fury.’ Temple is currently collaborating with Ray Davies to plan the film’s approach before penning a screenplay. Speaking to ScreenDaily, he said:

“Love/hate, sibling rivalry is at the core. I think it’s a very rich social, cultural nexus around the Kinks. Their story is the untold story of all those big bands of the 1960s.”

To enjoy great performances from the band, head over to The Kinks video section