Hear Tears for Fears’ Unreleased Live Jam Version of ‘Woman in Chains’

Tears for Fears have shared the previously unreleased “Townhouse live jam” version of their hit single “Woman in Chains,” taken from the band’s upcoming five-disc reissue for their 1989 album The Seeds of Love.

The unearthed spin on the track features gospel singer Oleta Adams, who also guested on the Seeds of Love version. During the London’s Townhouse studio jam session, the band played loose yet faithful renditions of the Seeds of Love tracks.

“We got Oleta in and we had Manu Katche on drums and Pino Palladino on bass and started playing live,” Tears for Fears’ Roland Orzabal said in a statement. “That was really when the album kicked off, it was really getting Oleta involved. It’s almost like every album needs a key person and one to unlock it. It was incredible; those live sessions were magical.”

Adams added of her guest appearance: “To this day that is a classic record. Absolutely classic and it was a very personal song Roland had written, inspired by the memory of his mother and things that she had gone through. Not only that, but women in general who are mistreated and held back by male figures and a very strong personality. I guess it could have been therapeutic for him. As we say over here ‘he put his foot in it’ — a lot of heart and soul in that music.”

The jam session version of “Woman in Chains” follows the demo recording of “Rhythm of Life,” both among the 22 previously unreleased tracks from the reissue that pairs the remastered The Seeds of Love with discs packed with B-sides, radio edits and early mixes, demos and the 30-minute Townhouse jam session. The reissue arrives on October 9th.