Circa Waves announces a new album and tells his strange inspirations to NME

Singer Kieran Shudell told NME that the group's third album has changed everything for independents.

Circa Waves has announced the release of its new album "What's It Like Over There" with a release date scheduled for April 5th.

The new album, which follows 'Different Creatures' in 2017, is directed by regular band producer Alan Moulder (The Killers, Depeche Mode, Foo Fighters).

Two of the 10 songs on the disc – 'Movies' and 'Be Somebody Good' are audible below.

Movies

Movies, an album of Circa Waves on Spotify

The complete track list is: "How are things going there?"; "Sorry I am yours"; "Times will not change me"; & # 39; & # 39 ;; Movies "Me, me and Hollywood"; "The way we say goodbye"; "Be someone good"; & # 39; & # 39 ;; Passport "Motorcade" and "Savior".

The remaining dates of the Circa Waves tour will be followed by the overview of the "How's it going on there?" Group. The remaining dates are Plymouth Junction this Thursday, November 29 and St Albans Horn this Friday, November 30. Tickets are available here.

While the four musicians of Liverpool conclude a tour of intimate places in cities far from the usual concert circuit, the singer Kieran Shudell tells NME how the new album upsets their indie sound. The group also has unusual inspirations ….

Where are you and how is it there?
"I'm in my manager's loft and it's very cold. Winter is upon us.

Why choose the songs from "Movies" and "Be Somebody Good" like Circa Waves? And why release two at a time?
"I would have put three or four outings if we could, because we want to show as much as possible the variety of the new album. "Movies" is a classic Circa Waves song, but it's a bridge to the third album because it has the guitar hooks we've always had and a new twist on electronic drums. It's optimistic and we wanted something positive to prepare the fans. 'Be Somebody Good' is a nod to what the rest of the disc looks like: more expansive, more cinematic and muscular. It's big, with synths and bigger drums. It's pretty daring for Circa Waves. This song says, "This album is different. Be ready … "

"Movies" has the phrase "Dancing in my room for" The Hounds Of Love ", it was so fucking". Have you deliberately knocked over your own banger with lyrics that will require a radio edit?
"My childhood memory was to go to the Leeds Festival and watch The Futureheads. It was their version of 'The Hounds Of Love', which I thought, although Kate Bush's original is also wacky. My initial introduction to this song was to jump to the Leeds Festival, with two liters of Strongbow, an absolutely loving life. This sentence is the one I had when I was 17: it was screwed up. When you hear it, you can not help but imagine a young child jumping into his room. "

Which movie would best describe Circa Waves?
«Reserve dogs. I would be Harvey Keitel, as he lives. "

"Be somebody good" alludes to self-doubt. How did you improve as a person?
"As you get older, you become less selfish. In your early twenties, you are obsessed with yourself, thinking that the world revolves around you. There are 60-year-olds who always think like that, but the more we travel, the more you realize that you are a small point among the billions of people on the planet. It is revealing to be able to travel a lot. You realize that you are not so important and that it is good. "

The phrase "Find me in your hotel bed" in "Be Somebody Good" – is this a personal experience?
"It was purely based on characters. I want the listener to be unable to distinguish facts from fiction in our songs. I like to write songs from the point of view of the first person because this causes the listener and makes it more intimate. "

You hinted that the new album is about love, in a general sense …
"It comes from all types of relationships. While touring the States by bus, I saw characters who had the impression of belonging to songs. It has become a movie and Hollywood history without loving you too much. When I got home, I found the book I wrote these thoughts on in the United States and it was a treasure chest. This paved the way for the record. I do not know if the record would have been done if it did not happen.

You joked to NME at the Isle Of Wight Festival that half of your fans would be stunned by the sound of the new album. Do you still think that?
"Well, the chorus of 'Me, Myself And Hollywood' is like Drake. I woke up in the middle of the night with my head around me. It is a couplet of Circa Waves integrated with a hip-hop chorus, with an Arctic Monkeys guitar line. Then there is an orchestral end; crescendos on the rise and is very different from everything we did. Some songs on the album are as unusual as that, but I really think the fans will accept it because it's different, but it's still us.

You were all four on the same page to have mixed things and you away from the traditional guitar / bass / drums?
"That's what came out of" Times Will not Change Me, "which was entirely piano-driven, something we'd never done before, but it seemed very exciting. This has paved the way for songs such as 'Passport', which is also purely piano-driven, and 'Motorcade', which is an LCD-style Soundsystem track, heavily synth-driven. We used the studio as an instrument and we exchanged instruments with each other. Our bassist Sam (Rourke) learned the piano for the album and tour, our guitarist Joe (Falconer) sometimes played bass, then me and Colin (Jones, drums) played drums together tribal way. We were unfettered, without fear of being as evolved as possible. You must be on your third disc. "

You have invited fans to send videos of their dancers to Circa Waves songs via the #WILOT hashtag. What is the quality?
"Surprisingly enough, some people are in their office, with embarrassed colleagues, and then you have all you need, full dance routines, guys in the kitchen who are jumping all the time. I did not expect the answer to be as good as it was. "

Does this mean we can expect full Circa Waves dance routines on your next tour?
"I'm sure our management would like us to learn a dance routine. Maybe we will come with our own. "

For the current preparation tour, you played in cities outside the usual circuit, such as Dunfermline, Milton Keynes and Stockton-on-Tees. What is the thought behind this?
"We wanted to do something we had never done before. We did the usual tour and we wanted to go back to the small rooms where we started playing. At the time, there were only 20 people in the room, whereas at present, 300 people become completely crazy. It's great to be so close to fans again. It's less pressure on new songs and that gives us the freedom to try guitar poses that we would not usually do too. We did only festivals last year, so we find our place with the headlines. "

Three of the 'Different Creatures' songs have been added to Radio One's A list. Did you feel the pressure to repeat this user-friendly success?
"We've always been fans of big songs and this album is no exception. We have never feared pop or big tunes. That's naturally what we do, so it never concerned me. We make pop music, and only at the end of the disc, we go "This song could work on Radio 1."

Was Alan Moulder the obvious choice to produce this album after working with him on "Different Creatures"? Did you experiment with someone you already knew?
"Alan is one of the few people who can penetrate my mind and extract what the sound should be. I know what I want, but I can not necessarily get it out through the speakers. Alan is my music translator and the most patient person of rock'n'roll. I encourage any musician to work with him. He has so much experience and he can show you how he draws the sounds of so many great records he worked on. He showed us the keyboards that the Killers had on "Sam's Town" and how Dave Grohl gets his snare sound.

Joe said NME Alan's only problem is that he will not go out for a drink with the group. Have you ever gone down to the pub?
"No, he has taken us several times to his Jag, but he never came to have a drink with us properly, maybe we have not been cool enough for him yet, that's something to aim for. for our fourth album. "

When did you know that the song 'What's It Like Over There?' Would also be the title of the album?
"We started thinking about the title of the album during the recording, and 'What's in there?' Is a collection of very fluid words, which can mean so many things and be interpreted many times. ways, and I like something that brings imagination to your fan base. "

What inspired the album cover?
"I conceived the concept of two androgynous beings looking at something you can not see. It's a nod to the title "What is it like over there? The bodies are not really human. I want it to be a work of art to discuss.

"Hollie Fernando, a great photographer, realized the concept by bringing in the two people you see on the sleeve. Hollie took a lot of shots and you'll see others in the album campaign – she gave it a lot of cohesion. I was also in the water, filming with Hollie, up to my knees, iced in salt water. I liked it. Maybe the characters are similar to a post-apocalyptic world or look at themselves. Maybe by the end of this campaign, I will understand what they are looking at and what it is, but for the moment I like ambiguity. "

The album was released in April. Do you feel like a future father right now?
"It's horrible to wait for this big event. We are going to release a handful of songs before the album, and it will be exciting to see the reactions. We can see instantly if people like it or, as I told you in June, if they are dismayed. We will see soon …