The Spotters - the songwriting and production vehicle of author Irvine Welsh and producer Steve McGuinness (Steve Mac) - release their debut single 'Choose Life' on 2 July, featuring Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream on vocals.
The track arrives ahead of the world premiere of Trainspotting: The Musical, which opens at the Royal Haymarket Theatre on 15 July for a run through 5 September, before a UK tour from October 2025 through March 2026.
'Choose Life' is not a revival. Where the phrase once carried the blunt irony of 1990s counter-culture, Welsh and McGuinness refocus it on the present: the shift from chemical to digital dependency, the concentration of power, the "modern culture of powerlessness" the musical sets out to interrogate. Gillespie's vocal sits at the centre of that tension. Familiar enough to carry weight, urgent enough not to let you settle.
Singer Bobby Gillespie says of the collaboration: “I loved singing on Irvine & Steve’s song for the Trainspotting musical. Having the duality of a biting topical lyric set to joyous music is always a good combo for me.”
The Spotters formed as an umbrella identity for Welsh and McGuinness's ongoing collaborative work spanning their Jack Said What label, the musical's score, alongside a wider ensemble of dance music artists.
Trainspotting: The Musical is written by Irvine Welsh, with music and lyrics by Welsh and McGuinness, and directed by Caroline Jay Ranger. Welsh describes it as carrying "a bigger, loudly beating human heart than either the book or the film". New songs alongside classic material, built for an audience that doesn't want to be tidied up or comforted.
