Cardiacs put out previously unreleased song “Vermin Mangle” to honor Tim Smith

The funeral for the late Cardiacs leader Tim Smith was today, and in honor of that, the band's label Alphabet Business Concern put out a previously unreleased song, "Vermin Mangle." It's their first single since 2007's "Ditzy Scene." It comes with a message that reads:

Of stars and planets,
of darkness and light,
of all universal energies issues forth
the fragile beauty of
VERMIN MANGLE…

…a present for YOU
by way of gracious thanks
for your abiding LOVE
and LOYALTY towards,
the stellar gift that was and will forever be,

TIMOTHY CHARLES SMITH.

Send him home:
Send him near and far.
Remember him.

July 3rd, 1961 - July 22nd, 2020

The song's on the more somber, atmospheric side, but it's unmistakably the work of Tim Smith, with plenty of the circus/prog/psych instrumentation that drove the band's most classic work. You can hear it below and get a free download at Bandcamp.

After Tim passed, tributes poured in from members of Faith No More, Porcupine Tree, Blur, Voivod, Pinback, and several others.

For more Cardiacs, read The Essentiality of Cardiacs’ ‘A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window.'