One of the UK's biggest rock bands, the three-piece reportedly wrote and recorded the 11-track album in their home studio space last September, during the downtime caused by the UK’s impending second lockdown.
“This album is a real journey, a collision of every thought and emotion we’ve had over the past eighteen months,” says frontman Simon Neil. “There was a real fortitude in A Celebration… but in this record we’re embracing the vulnerabilities of being a band and being a human in this twisted era of our lives.
“Even the title is the polar opposite. It’s asking, do we create these narratives in our own minds to give us some security when none of us know what’s waiting for us at the end of the day?”
At the time of its creation the band had been due to tour arenas throughout the UK, Europe and Australia in support of A Celebration Of Endings, but the pandemic led to the postponement of the shows.
As such, the record was the first to be written and recorded within a stone’s throw of their homes in Scotland, as Neil jokes, “It’s our first full-on tartan album!”
Indeed, listening to the album’s first taster, Unknown Male 01 – an epic and sometimes bruising slice of alt-rock, which dwells on friends who have taken their own lives – you can practically feel the bracing breeze of their homeland hit your face, or at least your ear canals...
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The band recently headlined Reading Festival, arguably the biggest date on the UK rock calendar, and touring guitarist Mike Vennart has promised the new album is the band’s heaviest yet. We're looking forward to hearing more.
Probably their heaviest album. Eat it. https://t.co/bvItgNrOkdSeptember 3, 2021
Matt is Features Editor for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.
