World Party / Arkeology box to be released on 28 May in the UK

As revealed exclusively by superdeluxedition.com earlier this month, World Party‘s Arkeology box set will not see an April release in the UK. The date has now been confirmed as 28 May 2012.

Arkeology is a sprawling 5-Disc collection of 70 never-before-heard tracks packaged in a unique ‘Any Year Diary’. The music within spans the band’s 25-year history with songs finished as recently as 2011 and unreleased, unheard studio gems, live sessions, concert recordings, radio interviews, covers, demos and B-sides.

New songs include Waiting Such a Long Time (2008), Everybody’s Falling in Love (2011), and Photograph, – a sprawling piano anthem recorded over a period of seventeen years (1994 to 2011).

The entire collection is packaged in the ‘Any Year Diary’, a 142-page, full-colour day calendar for personal use that features rare photos, clips of articles, and World Party memorabilia from Karl Wallinger’s personal archives, as well as his notes and commentary about various shows and recordings.

“The reason it’s all inside an any-year diary,”  Wallinger says, “is because I just got so sick of the CD packaging. I’m glad the whole CD format is dying, but I really didn’t want to put something out that was only digital.”

Other tracks in the box include a pitch-shifted, effects-heavy rendition of What is Love All About (from 1993’s Bang!) and live versions of familiar hits – including Ship of Fools from Boulder, CO in 1998, and fan favourites like Love Street from 2006’s Bonnaroo Festival.

Full track listing and further details here.