The latest issue of the Full Pelt Magazine is here, and you can download your copy for free below!
Volume 24 features our cover stars IDLES as they celebrate the release of new album, ‘TANGK’, which we review inside. We also review ‘Intermittent Fast Living’ – the new album from PET NEEDS. On the live side of things we catch Enter Shikari in London, IDLES in London and Noah and the Loners in Norwich!
Our News Report has all the latest music news including live announcements from AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Gary Numan, Gaffa Tape Sandy, Boston Manor and Willie J Healey!
Plus all the best new releases including Pearl Jam, REWS, High On Fire, While She Sleeps, Boston Manor, Gaffa Tape Sandy, Bears In Trees, Seasick Steve, The Dandy Warhols, Mad Caddies, Stand Atlantic, Greywind, Gun, Blackout Problems and The Longest Johns!
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our âDiscoverâ New Music Playlist including Cosmic Ninja, Exploring Birdsong and paradise fell.!
IDLES have made an indelible mark on the UK music scene with their ferocious, foot stomping, punk frenzy. Theyâve led a wave of acts into the mainstream consciousness and theyâve been praised and shot at in equal measure.
One regular criticism is a perceived lack of evolution both sonically and thematically. Well, welcome one and all to a giant middle finger of growth in the shape of their ostentatious fifth album, âTANGKâ. We recommend that you leave all preconceptions and reticence at the door, and strap yourself in for one hell of a ride!
To lay it out bluntly, âTANGKâ is quite unlike anything youâve experienced from IDLES over the past decade. The essence of the band is very much intact, it isnât a complete reinvention, but itâs undoubtedly the biggest leap that the group have taken between releases thus far.
There is a powerful message of love sewn throughout the record as the band fully embrace their âAll Is Loveâ motto. Announcing the album, singer Joe Talbot eloquently proclaimed, âI needed love. So I made itâ, and there is certainly a different listening experience present; one of positivity and yes, of love!
If you need to release some anger, then youâre perhaps best served by their earlier work, because as this album evolves all youâll want to do is dance! Thatâs by design of course and the likes of âDancerâ are naturally going to get crowds moving when the band play these songs live.
Changing their methods up, âTANGKâ has been produced by Nigel Godrich and Kenny Beats alongside the bands own Mark Bowen, and the trio have unified to create something uniquely special. Managing to both harness the focussed passion and energy that gained the band their following whilst simultaneously embracing a broader and more ambitious sound, the trio guide âTANGKâ towards being the fullest IDLES experience yet.
What is for sure though amongst the feeling of change present on the record itself, is that these songs will sound just as massive live as all your favourite IDLES tracks. And there within lies the mastery of what the band have achieved on âTANGKâ!
The latest issue of the Full Pelt Magazine is here, and you can download your copy for free below!
Volume 20 features cover stars Enter Shikari as they prepare their arena tour with a new collaboration with Jason Butler! We also have album reviews for Green Day and Neck Deep, an EP review for Jarki Monno and a live review of Bring Me The Horizon in London.
Our News Report has all the latest music news including live announcements from Gaz Coombes, Robert Plant, Resolve, Cassyette, Cro Cro Land, Maid of Stone, Steelhouse, Burn It Down, Takedown and Brits Week!
Plus all the best new releases including James, Emily Barker, The Sleeping Souls, Yard Act, IDLES, Greywind, Yours Truly, The Dandy Warhols, Chelsea Wolfe, Mad Caddies, The K’s, P.O.D., NOTHING MORE, Neck Deep, PET NEEDS, Joanne Shaw Taylor, DragonForce, LANDMVRKS, South of Salem, Mother Mother, New Model Army, Saxon and Cassyette!
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our âDiscoverâ New Music Playlist with Comastatic, Crushed By Waves and Noah and the Loners!
The latest issue of the Full Pelt Magazine is here, and you can download your copy for free below!
Volume 14 features cover stars Don Broco as they conclude their ‘Amazing Things’ era. We also catch Halestorm play their biggest headline show to date and The Darkness as they celebrate 20 years of ‘Permission to Land’!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Green Day, IDLES, Dream State, While She Sleeps, Architects, Marisa and the Moths, TheCityIsOurs, DragonForce, Scott Stapp, South of Salem, Royal Tusk, Casey, Bad Touch and I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME!
Plus new live announcements from Victorious Festival, Steelhouse Festival, Radar Festival, Maid of Stone, All Points East, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Dream State, Rituals, Scorpions, Creeper, The Cadillac Three, Limp Bizkit, Bloc Party, Twin Atlantic, Knocked Loose, The Almighty, Sepultura, Orbit Culture, Deaf Havana, Kasabian, Millie Manders and the Shutup and The Zutons!
The latest issue of the Full Pelt Magazine is here, and you can download your copy for free below!
Volume 13 features cover stars Holding Absence as they hit the road in support of ‘The Noble Art of Self Destruction’. We also catch Skinny Lister as they take ‘Shanty Punk’ to the stage. Plus we review the latest album from Beans On Toast!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Bruce Dickinson, CJ Wildheart, Alkaline Trio, Trash Boat, P.O.D., Atreyu, Normandie, Oakman, Chelsea Wolfe and LĂLĂ.
Plus new live announcements from Lytham Festival, Slam Dunk, Wild Fields Festival, The Killers, As December Falls, Pet Needs, Indoor Pets, Nickelback, IDLES, Avril Lavigne, You Me At Six, Taking Back Sunday, Don’t Panic and Thomas Nicholas Band!
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our âDiscoverâ New Music Playlist with Where Oceans Burn, Break Fifty and fakeyourdeath!
Our weekly music News Report has evolved into the Full Pelt Magazine, and you can download the eighth issue now for free!
Volume eight includes an update from cover stars Skindred, reviews of Rival Sons and Philip Seth Campbell live, album reviews for Skinny Lister, Rival Sons, The Rolling Stones, Chris Shifflet, Blink 182, Within Temptation and a load more!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from YUNGBLUD, IDLES, Alkaline Trio, Lonely The Brave, Lambrini Girls, Black Water County, SCALER, Oakman, Blackout Problems, The Struts, The Cadillac Three, LostAlone, DragonForce, Royal Tusk, Dream State and The Cruel Knives.
Plus new live announcements from As Everything Unfolds, Slam Dunk, Grace Petrie, Black Orchid Empire, Slash, Liam Gallagher, The Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Punk Rock Factory, When Rivers Meet, Kris Barras Band and LostAlone!
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our âDiscoverâ New Music Playlist with Jarki Monno, headcage and The Klittens!
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report!
We start this week with a handful of festival announcements and they didn’t come bigger than the initial line-up reveal for the 2023 edition of the legendary Isle of Wight Festival!
Always eclectic, this year’s bill is full of diverse options for attendees to check out including headliners Pulp, George Ezra, The Chemical Brothers and Robbie Williams.
Also on the bill are Courteeners, Blondie, James Bay, The Human League, Manic Street Preachers, The Enemy and more.
Following a multi-year hiatus, Takedown Festival will return in 2023, and this week organisers revealed the stunning first batch of bands that will be taking over Portsmouth Guildhall in April.
Headlining the event will be Sleep Token and Skindred. They will be joined by the likes of Loathe, Jamie Lenman, InMe, Palm Reader, Our Hollow Our Home, As December Falls, Fearless Vampire Killers, The Bottom Line and more!
Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes will be releasing his latest solo album, ‘Turn The Car Around’ on January 13th. Ahead of that release, Coombes has this week revealed a full UK/Ireland Tour set for April.
We move our News Report on now finally to the best new releases from the past week and we start with Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes!
This week saw the band share new single, ‘Parasite’, which you can listen to above.
Of the song they share: “This song was written between 12am and 3am during a particularly brutal trip to the seaside, it rained for a week straight and I had spent all my time listening to friends and their relationship problems but I had no words, no solutions to find. After all that a new parasite had been discovered.”
The band also detailed a 3 date residency at the Underworld in Camden this December.
At the end of their special Roundhouse show on Friday, Creeper announced the debut of their new single, ‘Ghost Brigade’, which you can listen to above now!
Black Star Riders this week released unique new single, ‘Crazy Horses’, which is a reinterpretation of The Osmonds classic. Listen to the track above!
The Track comes from upcoming new album, ‘Wrong Side Of Paradise’, which is out January 20th.
Front-man Ricky Warwick comments: âI remember watching The Osmonds performing this song on television in the early seventies as a young kid. I fell in love with it then and was patiently waiting for the opportunity to cover it. Thankfully my brothers in BSR shared the same adoration for the tune. So⌠The time is now and here it is!â
AWOLNATION returned this week with brand new single, ‘We Are All Insane’, which you can listen to above.
Frontman Aaron Bruno on the inspiration behind ‘We Are All Insane’, âI wrote the song during a time when the days of the week felt especially monotonous and I was searching for ways to stay creative and productive. I think thatâs a feeling most people have experienced at some point in their lives, especially over the past few years.â
This week saw IDLES announce the upcoming release of ‘Five Years of Brutalism’, a newly released vinyl celebrating five years since the release of their seminal debut album.
Speaking about the album, singer Joe Talbot writes; âWhat started as a headstone slab of indulgence and unrest became a long journey of beauty, forgiveness, and gratitude. Little did we know that it was not just a headstone but the foundations we were building, for a house full to the brim with loving human beings. Thank you so so muchâ
You can check out a taster of the release with ‘1049 GOTHO’ live from Glastonbury which you can listen to above.
Just Mustard this week shared the new video for their track, ‘Blue Chalk’, which you can watch above.
The video was made with the group’s friend SeĂĄn McMahon and was directed by vocalist, Katie Ball. âThe song Blue Chalk defines the heaviness that the whole of âHeart Underâ exists beneath. The kind that comes with grief and you feel like you are trying to navigate life with the weight of the sea on your chest keeping you down. I wanted to make this video since we started writing âHeart Underâ and to me it visually represents a lot of the emotion in the album. It was filmed in 4hrs in freezing cold water with the help of our friend SeĂĄn McMahon.â says Ball.
DEADLETTER share new single, ‘Madge’s Declaration’, taken from debut EP, ‘Heat!’, which is out November 18th.
Frontman Zac Lawrence said the following on the track: âWe wanted to make something that had elements of humour and danceability, trying to explore a genuinely terrifying idea in a manner which mirrors our cultural fascination with it. Our tendency to work around the drumbeat and bassline is highly evident here, with the song climaxing in a cacophony of primal ecstasy.â
Hell’s Ditch – ‘Take The Night Off’
British punk rock group Hellâs Ditch are back with their brand-new single âTake The Night Offâ.
“We’re made to feel lucky that we have a job and that we should be grateful for the opportunity to fight over scraps from the tables of the political class.People deserve more than just the bare minimum – we deserve dignity and good quality of life. Take The Night Off is about the need to live a life beyond the daily grind. Bread and roses, if you will”. – Vocalist Nick Davis
Xondra – ‘Tedious’
New York-based singer and songwriter Xondra unveils ‘Tedious’, the final single from her much anticipated EP, ‘Tedious & Brief’.
âIt is a song for the people that love so much and so hard that they sometimes forget to save some for themselves; it is for those learning to step out of survival mode and really live in the present,â says Xondra. ââTediousâ is me putting myself first. It is me allowing myself to to walk through the hard feelings I was having and still be hopeful that good times were coming down the road for me.â
All Points East is once again taking over Victoria Park in London for a series of huge shows and community activities. The event which debuted in 2018 has brought some of the most critically acclaimed acts in the world to London over the years, and this year will include performances from The Chemical Brothers, Kraftwerk, Tame Impala, The National, Disclosure and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Night one plays host to iconic ensemble Gorillaz, but first fans have to battle transport issues created by strikes affecting buses, overground, underground trains. Coldplayâs show tonight at Wembley Stadium is postponed to support fan attendance, but All Points East decide to press ahead with little acknowledgement of the issues.
Almost certainly some fans will have thought twice about the journey, however as we arrive at the festival site around dinner time it is clear that many thousands have managed to navigate the issues. Attendance today is far from full, however is far greater than we perhaps expected given the challenges.
This is a highly corporate festival and this comes across in the atmosphere. There are plenty of music fans in attendance but also more than enough people clearly just looking for a very expensive place to drink in the sun with their friends! With only cans of beer available from most bars, Iâd suggest a 24 pack from the supermarket, a decent stereo and a garden wouldâve been a better option for some.
Watch ‘Kerosene!’ from Yves Tumor on Youtube
Yves Tumor – ‘Kerosene!’
Upon arrival we force ourselves through the picnic benches and corporate sponsors to the âWestâ Stage where Yves Tumor is strutting their stuff much to either the delight or bemusement of those in attendance. Tumorâs eccentric electronic rock is a great way to get into the festival spirit and helps to remind us that we are actually here for some live music!
There are many stages of varying sizes at All Points East, but for tonight we need to dart between the two main stages. These are at opposite ends of the site, but we are able to get between them in under five minutes with the utilisation of a power walk.
Watch ‘TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION’ from Turnstile on Youtube
Turnstile – ‘TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION’
Itâs therefore to the âEastâ stage next for us and American hardcore punks Turnstile. This is a group making noise both literally and figuratively with latest album, âGlow Onâ, bringing new eyes and bigger audiences for the band.
The critical acclaim achieved by âGlow Onâ has certainly helped the band grow, but their live shows have ensured that once you take a look at them, you donât want to look away. Today the band feel at home on the big stage and their performance is once again captivating and engaging.
The setlist is dominated by âGlow Onâ tonight which is no surprise, and once their time is finished fans are left in awe of what they have just witnessed. So would we be if we didnât now need to race back to the âWestâ stage for another incredible live act, IDLES!
Watch ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’ from IDLES on Youtube
IDLES – ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’
IDLES are one of the most visceral and enthralling acts to emerge in the last decade. Four stunning albums into what promises to be a legendary career, the band attract a big crowd to the far end of the festival site.
Itâs also an impassioned crowd as they let go with their heroes to the likes of âMotherâ, âNever Fight A Man With A Perm’, âA Hymnâ and âThe Wheelâ. IDLES are a force of nature once they hit the stage and they somehow manage to make an enormous corporate field feel like a tiny little club show.
Their performance tonight is headline quality with closing duo âDanny Nedelkoâ and âRottweilerâ eliciting a rapturous response from the crowd. The connection between IDLES and their fans is a beautiful thing to witness and surely soon enough they will be the final act of these sized events.
Itâs a hard thing for any act to follow IDLES, but that is exactly what Gorillaz must do next. Thankfully for them they are the brainchild of Damon Albarn who has a natural ability to control a festival crowd.
Albarn is joined in Gorillaz by a collection of extremely talented musicians who together bring the vision to life. For over twenty years now the music of Gorillaz has pushed boundaries, experimented and brought together collaborators from all walks of musical life. Tonight the group showcase this to an expectant All Points East audience starting with âM1 A1â and âLast Living Soulsâ.
The overall setlist tonight is heavy on the âDemon Daysâ and âPlastic Beachâ albums, but it is a career-spanning set with early favourite â19-2000â arriving early in the show.
As youâd probably expect the bigger hits elicit the biggest reactions today, perhaps more noticeably so with this cosmopolitan crowd. Another influence on the crowd reaction measuring scale is the plethora of special guests that Gorillaz are able to bring out. The biggest surprise comes with Tame Impala joining Gorillaz and Bootie Brown on new song âNew Goldâ.
We are also treated to Shaun Ryder and Rowetta on âDAREâ, Paul Simonon on âPlastic Beachâ and De La Soul on âFeel Good Incâ, not to mention appearances from Popcaan, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Moonchild Sanelly, Mos Def and Sweetie Irie. Yes there is a real party feel to the show tonight as Gorillaz parade their friends.
All this makes for a very memorable evening that draws to a close with âClint Eastwoodâ. In just a few hours weâve witness four fantastic acts all presenting their art in their own unique ways. All Points East may feel overly commercial at times but nobody can doubt their ability to curate some of the most eclectic and quality line-ups on offer by UK festivals.
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report, where we roundup the best news from the past week. We start this week with the latest tour announcements, including the above from The Hunna!
Having just revealed the details of their upcoming new self-titled album, the band have now scheduled in a lengthy UK Tour for later this year. Support comes from Kid Kapichi and Lucy Deakin.
‘Trash’, the lead single from the new album kicks things off by giving the music industry both barrels, taking pot-shots at the execs who told them âTikTok, TikTok or else you get droppedâ.
âWeâre not calling anyone specific out,â explains Ryan. âitâs just overall industry suckiness. It highlights things weâve experienced in the industry over the years and things we see going on and hear about now. Thereâs a lot of bad shit that still goes on in the industry and a lot of it gets swept under the rug. But weâre in the position where weâre on our fourth album, we feel refreshed and confident and this is what weâre going to say. You either like it or you donât, itâs cool either way. We are who we are.â
Speaking of lengthy tours, Blossoms will truly be putting the work in at the end of this year with the above trek around the UK. With shows already starting to sell out, these aren’t ones to sit on.
Nile Rodgers & Chic announces End of Summer Parties
The legendary Nile Rodgers and Chic have announced two massive concert appearances at the iconic London venue O2 Academy Brixton, on Monday 19th September 2022 as well as a second show at O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester on the 21st of September.
Nile Rodgers said, âAfter the blues of Covid weâve had an incredible summer in the UK getting up front and close with all of our incredible fans. What better way to celebrate the last day of summer and the first day of autumn than with our final UK shows of the year at Brixton and Manchester. We want to invite all the Lionesses whoâve made the whole country so proud to get up on stage for what will truly be Good Times!â
Black Honey this week announced a special one-off show at OMEARA in London. The band has teased the show as the beginning of their new era. Tickets have already sold out, for more info check here.
Another band with new tour dates to reveal as we continue our News Report is none other than The Wonder Years, who will hit the UK this November!
Speaking of the tour, frontman Dan ‘Soupy’ Campbell, says “Fun Fact: Weâve been touring the UK longer than anywhere in the world, including the US. This year marks 15 years since our first UK tour and the memories weâve madeâfrom playing literal basements up to Alexandria Palaceâhave been and continue to be some of our most treasured. So itâs with an immeasurable joy that we get to tell you today that, for the first time since 2019, weâre doing a headlining UK tour this November. We canât wait to play everything for youânew stuff from THGOF, old favourites, the whole damn thing.”
A single piece of festival news in our News Report this week and it comes from Manchester event Neighbourhood Festival.
The festival has revealed a second wave of acts including Pastel, Himalayas, Michael Gallagher, Planet, Rats, Rosellas, and Youth Sector.
They join the already announced The Snuts, Everything Everything, Sundara Karma, Baby Queen, Lauran Hibberd, Louis Dunford, Stone, Ten Tonnes, The Goa Express, The Royston Club, The Skinner Brothers and Courting!
We move our News Report onwards now to the best new releases from the past week and we begin with Slipknot.
The band continue to prepare for their upcoming album, ‘The End, So Far’, which is out September 30th. This week the band debuted new track, ‘Yen’, which you can listen to above.
Another massive rock act with new music this past week is Alter Bridge. The band shared their latest track, ‘Silver Tongue’, which you can listen to above.
The song will feature on upcoming album, ‘Pawns & Kings’, which is out October 14th.
This week also saw IDLES debut the video for their track, ‘Stockholm Syndrome’.
Speaking on the video, directors Charlotte Gosch and the bandâs own Lee Kiernan explain, âThe process of making the video was very fulfilling for the both of us as we were able to physically create what we were imagining. Both the masks and shapes were handmade and painted by ourselves and friends.
Working with our DOP Rob French we were also able to realise the long shots of each verse and the opening scene of the dancers. We both love the exhaustive and immediate feeling that a long shot can convey, like in Gus Van Santâs Gerry, which we referenced quite literally.
The initial idea of the video was to try and visualise the monotony hell of having to work to survive and how the âmachineâ eventually engulfs you and strips you of your freedoms. But we wanted to achieve this in a metaphorical way that kept the meaning as open as possible. So it becomes rather a visual representation that can be read in many different ways.”
There was also new music from LIFE this week as they debuted new single, ‘Duck Egg Blue’, which you can check out above.
The track will feature on new album, ‘North East Coastal Town’, which is out on August 19th.
Speaking on the new release vocalist Mez says: ââDuck Egg Blueâ is a realist’s love song. The journey of trying to navigate through each otherâs feelings and emotions, the strains of close quarters trapped in a tiny flat, the minutiae of everyday life. The overarching sentiment is that no matter what happens, after all that is said and done, we love each other, and we are there for each other.â
Pet Needs debut new single ‘Fear for the Whole Damn World’
Pet Needs – ‘Fear for the Whole Damn World’
‘Discover’ New Music Playlist alumni now, and Pet Needs have shared their brand new single, ‘Fear for the Whole Damn World’, which you can listen to above.
The track comes ahead of new album, ‘Primetime Entertainment’, which is out September 9th.
Fellow previous ‘Discover New Music Playlist members Oakman have also released new music this week. You can listen to new single, ‘All The Way Up’, above.
About the song, the band says, ââAll The Way Upârepresents this long journey in a life between fear, hesitation and the desire to never stop going further. Since we were born, we all have dreams that we never stop fighting for. For which we will always be regarded as an alien by others because we are often misunderstood and not supported. And when everything else gets in the way, it’s often psychologically hard to continue to find strength. But every day is a new day and every day brings a new strength to keep going all the way up.â
The Lounge Society have shared new track, ‘Upheaval’, the latest track to be taken from their upcoming debut album ‘Tired of Liberty’, out August 26th.
The band comments, “Upheaval has a calmer atmosphere than anything weâve done before and looking back on the album as a whole, it may in fact be one of the most important tracks on there. In the studio Dan [Carey, producer] really helped us bring a certain vintage feel to life – with deep textured acoustic guitars, heavily impacted by the ambient room mixing we focused on in the closing stages of the album. This song, more than anything else weâve ever done, feels like us together as four mates playing a song that we love.â
Grave Goods – ‘Source’
Grave Goods have shared their new single, âSourceâ, taken from debut album ‘TUESDAY. NOTHING EXISTS.’, which is out 9th September.
On the track, drummer Sarah Grimes said, âThis was the second song we wrote. It was written on drums and guitar first, we wanted it to be really minimal in the verse with drums and vocals and contrasted with louder choruses with the guitar and drums working together with bass added later. When we were structuring the song we took the guitar line from the chorus and used it as the intro to hook people in.
When we wrote the song initially, I had a mic set up beside me and I whispered âha haâ at the end of each bar during the verses. Those were dropped as we started to play the song live but while we were recording we decided to add it back in – me whispering âHa Haâ on my tiptoes trying to reach Loisâ mic.â
ENOLA – ‘Strange Comfort’
Melbourne-based singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist ENOLA, sharesnew single âStrange Comfortâ.
ENOLA says of the track, âThere is a comfort in knowing that suffering can be a universal experience. We are alone, yet together in our aloneness.â
On the accompanying video they say, âIn the film I am not playing a role or character & Iâm not playing myself as I am today. I am looking back at a past self and a time & place gone. A time of fearlessness, hopelessness & rebellion.â
Pale Waves reveal UK Tour, debut new single and announce new album
Welcome everyone to another edition of our weekly music News Report, and it has been as huge news week for fans of Pale Waves!
This week saw the band announce a new UK Tour to take place in November. The run of dates will include a huge show at the O2 Brixton Academy in London.
That isn’t it though, as the band also announced that they will be releasing their third album, ‘Unwanted’, this August.
They also debuted the first single from the album, ‘Lies’, which you can check out below.
ââLiesâ is about someone who built up my trust and destroyed it like a wrecking ball,â says frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie. âit caused some real trust issues, but fortunately for me that person is no longer in my life. Once you do me wrong youâre gone!â
Pale Waves have been on a personal and artistic journey since the release of their debut album ‘My Mind Makes Noises’ in 2018. These experiences have begun to inform their songs in recent years and are what jump to the fore on ‘Unwanted’.
âIt was really the only thing this album could be called,â says Baron-Gracie, now 27. âItâs bold and unapologetic, and thatâs what the Pale Waves community is about. We donât need to fit a perfect mould, we donât need to apologise for being ourselves, and we wonât change for anyone. That acceptance is what connects us.â
Five Finger Death Punch announce new album ‘Afterlife’
Five Finger Death Punch – ‘IOU’
We move our News Report onwards now on to the new releases from this past week, and we start with Five Finger Death Punch.
The metal icons this week revealed that their new album, ‘Afterlife’, will be released on August 19th. In announcing the album, the band also debuted new track, ‘IOU’, which you can check out above.
âAFTERLIFE was hands down my favorite record to make.â says 5FDP guitarist Zoltan Bathory and continues: âIt is our ninth album so at this point, we have legions of loyal fans, and our signature sound is more than established. It became its own island, our ground zero we operate from and we can always come back to. So when we started this record, there was an excitement of impending musical adventures, we knew we could step away as far as we wanted to, there was a freedom of truly âanything goes.â
This resulted in an album that is way more diverse than our previous ones, while it feels more unified, because there is a framework of overarching stories in Ivanâs lyrics and interconnecting musical motifs between songs. It was not planned as a concept album, but we were so hyper-focused on painting a complete picture, it somehow feels like one… We are very proud of it and are just as impatient as the fans waiting for the release, canât wait to share it.â
The HU also had new music to present this week as the band debuted new track, ‘This Is Mongol’. You can listen to the track above, which comes ahead of their highly anticipated sophomore album due this summer.
Speaking about the video, singer and tumur hhuur player Jaya said, âWe shot in the Mojave Desert, Nevada and the environment reminded us of Gobi Desert in Mongolia. We enjoyed shooting the video, which happened during our tour and gave us a little break to reminisce about home. The song perfectly matched the environment we made the video in. It was one of the best memories we created as a band and it was special because our producer Dashka was with us to oversee the whole process.â
BERRIES announce debut album, and release new single ‘
BERRIES – ‘We Are Machines’
Finally, we close out this section of our News Report with the fantastic news that BERRIES will release their debut album, ‘How We Function’ on July 8th.
This week also saw the band debut their latest track, ‘We Are Machines’, which you can listen to above.
As always we conclude our News Report with the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist over on Spotify.
The Lounge Society – ‘Blood Money’
The Lounge Society have announced that their debut album, ‘Tired of Liberty’, will arrive August 29th. This week they debuted new track ‘Blood Money’.
The band comments: âBlood Money is a reaction to the culture of greed thatâs seeping into the corridors of power across the world. Itâs a reminder that ultimately, we all suffer at the hands of self-serving elites, and itâs our personal perspective on the effects of dirty politics on the everyday lives of ourselves and people we know.
For us itâs a song that completely captures this record and us as a band. It feels like the perfect development from our previous releases to our debut album and exactly how this record should be introduced. The balance of driving guitar riffs and the groove of the drums and bass is sort of a snapshot of the album. Weâd never claim to be a purely dance based band and weâd never claim to be a purely guitar riff-based band because itâs the combination of the two which excites us.
On Blood Money it felt like in the studio we took our sound to a different level. We approached the album recording in a totally fresh way to how we have recorded in the past and we got exactly what we wanted.
We had good friends & Speedy label mates of ours Anouska (Honeyglaze) and Jojo (Heartworms) do some extra vocals in the chorus, and it really elevated it and gave it an almost operatic feel which was amazing to see develop in the studio.â
Call to the Faithful – ‘The Problem’
Fierce UK Rockers Call to the Faithful return with their first offering of 2022, âThe Problemâ.
The band says: âThe Problem is biographical account of the miserable situation so many of us find ourselves in, unable to break free of living paycheck to paycheck while being continuously belittled by a generation so detached from modern struggles that they provide useless solutions like âsimply work harderâ and âdonât waste your money at Starbucksâ.
smallmint – ‘The Dark’
Northern Ireland stalwartâs smallmint have unveiled their new single, ‘The Dark’, plucked from debut LP âwhere we all end up in the endâ.
Speaking of the albumâs production, Cameron-Braithwaite says:
âWe wanted the album to feel natural and to actually sound like a band playing live in a room, which is exactly how it was recorded. It was important for us to keep that space and energy in the recordings â no need for overproduction or too many overdubs, so that the arrangement of the music and the emotion within the lyrics could speak for themselves.â
