BRAND NEW FRIEND REVEAL 'MEDIOCRE AT BEST' // UK TOUR AND IRELAND DATES WITH FEEDER MARCH 2018 // IRISH TOUR APRIL 2018

Brand New Friend's latest song from debut album Seatbelts for Aeroplanes is ‘Mediocre At Best’, which you can listen to below. The track supports their first mainland UK tour, with Pretty Vicious, startihg on Wednesday 7 March. The band have also been confirmed to join Britrock heroes Feeder on two of their forthcoming Irish dates. Seatbelts for Aeroplanes is released on 27 April 2018 and you can preorder it on vinyl, CD or download.

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The four-piece, who hail from Castlerock in Northern Ireland released the first single from the album in February 2018, ‘Girl’, and instantly received plays from Huw Stephens (who played it twice back to back!), Phil Taggart and Annie Mac at Radio 1. It was also added to the Spotify ‘Rocked’ playlist and ‘Pure Pop Punk’ playlist.

Vocalist Taylor described the track as: “A fragile love song. It’s about facing up to the invisible battles in our heads and the importance of helping each-other through life, because it’s not easy. I wrote it for my girlfriend, to remind her that just by being here, she’s won every fight so far. It was written after a house party. I had one conversation with this girl & fell for her there and then. This song was my way of being able to talk to her after the party, because I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see her again...”

The band, who began as a duo with brother and sister Taylor and Lauren Johnson started off playing and writing when Taylor received his first guitar for doing well in his GSCE’s.   After releasing an EP ‘American Wives’ they hooked up with Aaron Milligan (bass) and Luke Harris (drums) and developed a fuller, punchier sound which transformed the gigs they had been playing to much more energetic affairs.  Playing their first Irish tour in January 2017, they soon followed on with shows on the BBC Introducing Stage at Hull (during its City of Culture year), festivals and support slots with local bands. In the meantime BBC Radio Ulster and Radio 1 were taking note and giving support and the new year kicked off with a sold out show at the Duke of York in Belfast.

UK tour (with Pretty Vicious)

MARCH 2018
07 Manchester, UK @ Soup Kitchen
08 Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Petes
09 Barrow In Furness, UK @ Underground Music Society (headline show)
10 Cardiff, UK @ Club Ifor Bach
12 Leeds, UK @ Lending Room
13 Bristol, UK @ Louisina
14 Southampton, UK @ Joiners
15 London, UK @ Borderline

With Feeder
21 Dublin, Ireland @ Olympia
22 Belfast, UK @ Limelight

Irish tour (headline)

APRIL 2018
20 Omagh, Ireland @ Top of the Town
26 Derry, Ireland @ Sandino’s
27 Portrush, Ireland @ Kiwi’s
28 Belfast, UK @ Black Box

Further dates to be announced. 

SXSW 2018 XTRA MILE SHOWCASE 17 MARCH 2018 AT BARRACUDA // FEATURING FRANK TURNER, SKINNY LISTER, WILL VARLEY, THE RPMs & NON CANON

Xtra Mile Recordings (XMR) and Artist Group International (AGI) will join the SXSW 2018 lineup with a packed showcase at Barracuda on Saturday, 17 March 2018.

The showcase will feature two alternating stages and include performances from Xtra Mile artists Frank Turner, Skinny Lister, Will Varley, The RPMs and Non Canon. AGI artists include Many Rooms, Swimming With Bears, Honduras, Tennis System, Bones, Allman Brown and Spirit In The Room.

Admission to the showcase is designated to attendees of the festival along with extra tickets for purchase at the door. More information, along with new additions to the lineup, to come.

SEAN MCGOWAN DEBUT ALBUM 'SON OF THE SMITH' OUT 11 MAY 2018 // LISTEN TO NEW SONG 'OFF THE RAILS' // 2018 TOUR DATES

Seán McGowan is excited to announce the release of his debut album, Son of the Smith, through Xtra Mile Recordings on 11 May 2018. Preorder the album on CD, LP and digital now. 

The first single taken from the album is ‘Off the Rails’, out today (14 February) which you can check out below.

‘Off the Rails’ sears along with an e-bow guitar drone thrumming underneath while Seán gives the lyrical equivalent of an arm around the shoulder and kiss on the cheek of his mates for being there for him. 

As a glimpse into Son of the Smith, it captures his band absolutely ploughing through the parts he wrote for them. In that spirit, Son of the Smith captures everything live. Recording at SS2 Studios in Southend with labelmate Sam Duckworth (AKA Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.) and Jay Malhotra, drums were done without a click-track, each instrument colliding with the rhythm. “It feels urgent, like it could tip over the edge at any point,” Seán says. 

‘Porky Pies’ returns to that cheeky pace, sure, jeering at commercial bullshit and fakery. ‘Romance Ain’t Dead’ though is a horn-addled scrabble for passion and love. There are hints of classic solo Seán on the quieter, finger-picked ‘Life Has a Way’ and the affecting arpeggios of ‘Oh My Days’, if more sensitive than before. But on ‘Local Boy’ he’s really looking beyond his own limits with a delicate tangle of pedal steel and strumming that reflects upon Seán’s growth since spending his youth in Southampton

There’s a spine of a concept running through the album, and one of Seán’s oldest ideas for the record: a journey across London between Old Street, Oval and Camberwell, itself a trek through Seán’s current sound. “The city’s breathing,” he begins on opener ‘Mind the Doors’, an undulating spoken word mantra upon a solo acoustic introduction via a bus journey to one of the key refrains to come. The mantra returns, announcing the album’s second half, and this time Seán’s bank card is declined on ‘Mind Your Head’ despite the warm piano promising more exploration. The album closes with drums rumbling as a metronome for Seán’s pitch-perfect grime-tinged flow into the six-minute tube journey on ‘Mind the Gap’. He peers out of his misery at the uncaring floods of commuters while lines peel off along the tracks – “keep tellin’ me to mind the gap, as the space between us grows” and “there ain’t no love on the Northern Line”. The final part of the trilogy, it’s the perfect epilogue to a heartfelt run through his life. 

Over 13 tracks, Son of the Smith is disarming in its scope, surprising in its erudite tackling of life’s challenges, and strong of voice with just a dab of laddish humour – the aural personification of Seán himself. McGowan could end up soundtracking our social conscience well into next year. 

Son of the Smith tracklisting

1. Mind The Doors
2. Cuppa Tea
3. Romance Ain’t Dead
4. Skin & Bone
5. Porkie Pies
6. Oh My Days
7. Mind Your Head
8. Springhill
9. Local Boy
10. Auto Pilot
11. Life Has A Way
12. Off The Rails
13. Mind The Gap

Seá has a huge year lined up in support of the album. Ending 2017 supporting Billy Bragg through the UK he began the year touring with labelmate Will Varley. March sees him head back to his roots in Ireland for a short tour there, before joining up with Will Varley again for a European run in April. Coinciding with the album release he will play a short headline tour throughout May as well as joining Frank Turner for a main stage slot at the Lost Evenings 2 Festival at the Roundhouse in London. Full dates below. More to be announced. 

MARCH (HEADLINE SHOWS)

06 Cork @ Brú Bar
07 Galway @ The Secret Garden
08 Limerick @ Mother Mac’s
09 Dublin @ Vintage Room
11 Belfast @ Drone Mansions

29 London @ 100 Club – supporting Ferocious Dog

APRIL (SUPPORTING WILL VARLEY) 

04 Leiden, The Netherlands @ Gebr De Nobel
05 Utrecht,The Netherlands @ Tivolevredenburg
06 Arnhem, The Netherlands @ Luxor Live
07 Groningen, The Netherlands @ Vera
08 Hamburg, Germany @ Monkey’s Music Club
09 Berlin, Germany @ Bi Nuu
10 Kassel, Germany @ Goldgrube
11 Munster, Germany @ Gleis 22
12 Trier, Germany @ Lucky Luke’s
13 Cologne, Germany @ Artheater
14 Hannover, Germany @ Lux
15 Wiesbaden, Germany @ Schlachthof
17 Karlsruhe, Germany @ Jubez
18 Munich, Germany @ Kranhalle
19 Baden, Switzerland @ Nordportel
20 Winterthur, Switzerland @ Gaswerk
21 Milan, Italy @ Serraglio 

MAY (SUPPORTING FRANK TURNER)

14 London @ Roundhouse (Lost Evenings II) 

MAY (UK HEADLINE TOUR)

15 London @ Monarch
26 Kingston @ Fighting Cocks
27 Bristol @ Crofter’s Rights
28 Birmingham @ Sunflower Lounge
29 Nottingham @ Bodega
31 Sheffield @ Totem

JUNE (UK HEADLINE TOUR)

01 Leeds @ Santiagos
02 Southampton @ Joiners
03 Cardiff @ Tiny Rebel
05 Exeter @ Cavern
07 Cambridge @ Portland Arms
08 Oxford @ Cellar
09 Reading @ Rising Sun Arts Centre

Image: Ben Morse www.ben-morse.com

BRAND NEW FRIEND ANNOUNCED DEBUT ALBUM 'SEATBELTS FOR AEROPLANES' OUT 17 APRIL 2018 // LISTEN TO NEW SINGLE 'GIRL' // FIRST-EVER UK TOUR MARCH 2018 PLUS NEW IRISH TOUR APRIL 2018

Northern Irish quartet Brand New Friend has released new single 'Girl', the first track to be taken from their debut album Seatbelts for Aeroplanes out 17 April 2018 on Xtra Mile Recordings. Preorder the album on magenta vinyl, CD and download. The first 100 physical copies will be signed. The band will also be heading out on tour with Pretty Vicious in March before slotting in their own dates for later this spring.

Watch the video for the second single from the album 'Girl' below. The video for ‘Girl’ was shot at their sold out gig at Belfast's Duke Of York in January 2018, and perfectly encapsulates the youthful energy, fun and thrill of a Brand New Friend gig. Taylor says: “’Girl’ was written after my little brother and I went for a swim in the sea late one Summer night. We were singing 60’s songs like ‘I Love How You Love Me’ by The Paris Sisters and I loved how beautifully simple the lyrics were, it left a real impression on me. It’s about falling for a girl at school and the innocent, blissful, total devotion that follows. You want to tell the world you love them, write their name into the blue.”

The 13-track debut album was recorded with producer Rocky O’Reilly at the end of 2017 after the release of their single 'Hate It When You Have To Go' and is a collection of classic catchy pop rock tunes celebrating their youthful exuberance and excitement.

Seatbelts for Aeroplanes captures the live feel of their supernova pop with Taylor’s songs filtered through the musicianship around them. It also charts the rollercoaster journey of his first proper love. “Something you think is going to be incredible sometimes isn’t, but that isn’t the end of the world and you learn that,” he says. From the highs depicted in ‘Mediocre At Best’ and ‘I Hate It When You Have To Go’, to the harder times in ‘I Was An Astronaut’, ‘A&E’, ‘I Love You, Goodbye’ and ‘The Blame’, Taylor is happy to admit that the album’s journey is one “that happens to chronicle this period of my life which coincided with me growing up in all sorts of ways”. Songs may flare with vigor and abandon, but do more than skim the surface and you’ll find a depth of emotion here that Taylor, catapulted by the rest of the band, can’t help but exert. 

The band, who began as a duo with brother and sister Taylor and Lauren Johnson started off playing and writing when Taylor received his first guitar for doing well in his GSCE’s.  After releasing an EP ‘American Wives’ they hooked up with Aaron Milligan (bass) and Luke Harris (drums) and developed a fuller, punchier sound which transformed the gigs they had been playing to much more energetic affairs. Playing their first Irish tour in January 2017, they soon followed on with shows on the BBC Introducing Stage at Hull (during its City of Culture year), festivals and support slots with local bands. In the meantime BBC Radio Ulster and Radio 1 were taking note and giving support and the new year kicked off with a sold out show at the Duke of York in Belfast. 

Album tracklisting plus UK and Irish tour dates below.

Image: Ruth Kelly

Tracklisting:
1. Mediocre At Best
2. Seatbelts For Aeroplanes
3. I Was An Astronaut
4. Milk Chews
5. Slow
6. Why Are You So Tired
7. Sleep On My Floor
8. I Hate It When You Have to Go
9. Girl
10. A + E
11. I Love You, Goodbye
12. The Blame
13. Cold

UK tour (with Pretty Vicious)

MARCH
07 Manchester @ Soup Kitchen
08 Edinburgh @ Sneaky Pete's
09 Barrow In Furness @ Underground Music Society (headline show)
10 Cardiff @ Club Ifor Bach
12 Leeds @ Lending Room
13 Bristol @ Louisina
14 Southampton @ Joiners
15 London @ Borderline

Headline Irish tour

APRIL
20 Omagh @ Top of the Town
26 Derry @ Sandino’s
27 Portrush @ Kiwi’s
28 Belfast @ Black Box

Further dates to be announced soon.

WILL VARLEY NEW VIDEO 'LET IT SLIDE' TAKEN FROM 'SPIRIT OF MINNIE' OUT 9 FEBRUARY 2018

On the eve of his UK headline tour, Will Varley today releases a new track ‘Let It Slide’, which arrives just ahead of his forthcoming fifth studio album Spirit Of Minnie, released 9 February 2018 through Xtra Mile Recordings. Preorder the album.

The nine date tour - which includes his largest London show to date at the iconic 02 Shepherds Bush Empire on album release day - sees Will performing for the first time backed by a full band. Easing along atop a languid sway, ‘Let It Slide’ finds Will and his band pared right back to create one of Spirit Of Minnie's most hushed and exposed moments yet. Listen here:

Just a few days after the release of Spirit Of Minnie, Will heads Stateside to join friends and labelmates Skinny Lister on a huge tour around USA, before returning to play live dates across Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Netherlands.

Following 2016’s much praised Kingsdown Sundown and a sold out show at London’s Union Chapel, Spirit Of Minnie marks a distinct change of direction for the singer songwriter, recording for the first time with a full band set up. Produced by Cameron McVey (Massive Attack, Portishead, Neneh Cherry), the new album expands on the pared back musical palette of Varley’s previous sound, all the while retaining his gift for painterly, affirming and immediate lyric writing.

Aided by McVey’s nuanced, widescreen production and already counting the likes of Billy Bragg, Valerie June and Frank Turner among his fans, the young songwriter from Deal seems poised for a huge 2018.

UK HEADLINE TOUR
30 January - Birmingham @ 02 Institute 3  
31 January - Nottingham @ Rescue Rooms 
1 February - Leeds @ Brudenell Social Club 
2 February - Edinburgh @ La Belle Angele
3 February - Manchester @ Club Academy
6 February - Southampton @ 1865
7 February - Cardiff @ The Globe
8 February - Bristol @ Trinity Centre
9 February - London @ Shepherds Bush Empire

Spirit Of Minnie tracklisting
1. All Those Stars
2. Seven Days
3. Screenplays
4. Breaking The Bread
5. Statues
6. Spirit Of Minnie
7. Let It Slide
8. Postman
9. Insect

DUCKING PUNCHES SONG 'DISTANT SHADOWS' FROM NEW ALBUM 'ALAMORT'

Limbering up for their eagerly awaited new album Alamort, out 16 February 2018, Ducking Punches are back to whet appetites with a brand new single, 'Distant Shadows'. 

Listen to “Distant Shadows” here or also on Spotify.

Unafraid to flaunt their literary chops, the title of this latest track is an intended lyrical play on the words of the ancient Roman poet and philosopher, Horace: “Pulvis et umbra sumus" or "We are but dust and shadow”.

Swooping and diving with wild abandon, 'Distant Shadows' never loses sight of Ducking Punches' undeniable knack for earworm infested melodies and a clifftop-howling chorus. Ramped up on reverb-drenched riffs and sporting a relentless percussive pummel, this dynamic single is surely only further evidence of Ducking Punches coming good on the promise of an altogether darker, heavier and more bruising affair for listeners keenly anticipating their latest long-player.

Offering further insight into the heart of 'Distant Shadows', frontman Dan Allen says: “'Distant Shadows' is about drifting apart from friends through a lack of trying and a lack of common ground. It focuses on how fickle friendships are not healthy to have in your life. The title is a play on words, taking the line from Horace, and twisting the meaning.”

As with previous singles 'Smoking Spot' and 'Sobriety', 'Distant Shadows' too was tracked and mixed at Crooked Rain Studio in Leeds by Bob Cooper (Nai Harvest / Citizen / The Orielles) and further mastered at Sonic Iguana Studio by punk rock guru Mass Giorgini (Anti-Flag / Rise Against). A hattrick of singles more daredevil than anything they have produced before, the choice of studio staff and resultant sound all begin to paint a picture of a band casting off any and all former folk associations and plummeting further and deeper into the realms of post-punk and hardcore. 
 
Around the release of the album, the band will also be playing a series of live dates including a launch party at London’s The Lexington (16 Feb) and an unmissable hometown show at The Arts Centre in Norwich (17 Feb). Plus, the band are now delighted to announce a slew of shows across the UK for later in the year, with pit stops across Wales, Scotland and England - full dates and details on our gigs page.