The Rising return this summer with a new single from their eagerly awaited second studio album!
Kaleidoscope Eyes sees the band further explore their new found love of synth psychedelia and even guests Scott Howells (formally of Welsh 60’s revivalists – The Broken Vinyl Club) on sitar.
The Rising are a 7 piece Rock ‘N’ Roll band from Southampton, fronted by Tommy Overington, who have many influences which include the 60’s mod Hammond sound, 90’s Britpop and more present day synth psychedelia. They signed to Detour Records in late 2013 and released their debut album in March 2014 which sold out on CD in no time at all. The album is still available on iTunes via Detour Records.
The band are currently in the studio writing and recording the follow up album (which is due for release in 2017) following a busy summer: The Rising have played at The Cavern Club, The Isle Of Wight Festival, Victorious Festival and Common People Festival, to name but a few. The band have also been confirmed for Bestival 2017.
The Rising have also just sold out their biggest ever headline show (300 capacity) at The Loft in Southampton. The date for the gig is Friday September 15th.
The new album is currently being recorded at the world famous Rockfield Studios at Monmouth in Wales.
It is a chance for the band to experiment with new sounds and influences, which is now mainly possible due to the arrival of Neville Staples (The Specials) tour keyboard/Hammond player Liam Dixon, and classically trained backing singer Emily Blackledge, who both add a new dimension to the overall sound of the band. You check out the new single Kaleidoscope Eyes below before it’s official release this Friday 7th July
We managed to catch up with lead singer Tommy as he talked about the latest single, Bestival and more!
So how has the release of Kaleidoscope Eyes been so far?
Well, it comes out on Friday, so hopefully people like it and get on it. We put the video out a few weeks ago and it got a positive reaction so here’s hoping it’s gets a fair few downloads!!
Tell us a bit about the single no one knows
I was always intrigued with that line from “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” – “The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes”. I always loved that, so kind of wanted to write a Lennon sounding love song about a girl with kaleidoscope eyes. Our first album was kind of retro in terms of how we recorded it and how it was produced so with this second album we’re going for a more modern sound with super gloss production. I absolutely love how bands like Tame Impala sound Beatles influenced but very contemporary – so that’s kind of where I wanted it to go. Dead happy with it I’m honest. Scott Howells came in and gave it some George Harrison with his sitar as well to give it a bit of a spiritual feel. Scott’s former band The Broken Vinyl Club really influenced us in terms of how a 60’s revivalist album should sound when we were doing the first album so to have him come in and twang out some eastern vibes on his sitar was fucking great!!! He plays on another track of ours on the album called Carpet Ride which is beyond insane!! Some, moody, dark psychedelic groove which goes a bit Dreamscape towards the end!!
Can you tell us anything about the upcoming second album?
It’s just gonna be HUGE in terms of production. The songs are catchy and full of twists, turns and surprises. I’m singing in higher keys compared to the first album so everything just sounds brighter. Our first album was purposely under produced as we wanted to recreate a 60’s sound for most of it. I love the first album, but we had to step it up for the second album and do something different.
How pumped are you for your sold out hometown show at The Loft in September?
Yeah very much so!!! We’ve been selling out The Joiners and other 200 cap venues locally for the last few years – which is great – but we were given the chance to step it up to the next level with this gig at The Loft. To smash out 300 tickets in 8 weeks with no management company to chuck money at to promote us speaks volumes I think. The people who come to see us are proper people who work all week and want to be entertained and enjoy themselves. They know what they’re getting when they buy a ticket to see us.
Is the album likely to be our before then?
Nah. Regrettably not. We initially started to record the second album at Toe Rag in London. Toe Rag’s an all analogue studio which doesn’t use computers – perfect if you want that retro feel. Our game plan shifted shortly after we had started recording some songs and soon realised that a blend of retro analogue and modern digital would just be too weird to feature on the same album. I think you need continuity for an album otherwise it will just sound like a scrapbook of songs instead of an album. Still, we released 2 songs (Free My Soul Tonight and If You Get With Me) that we recorded as a double A side single on 7″ through the label and you can still buy it on iTunes so all was not lost. Just meant the album had to be started from scratch at Rockfield.
So you have Bestival coming up, do you find it different playing to a festival audience than a live venue?
Only at Bestival this year. We had a good run with the festivals last year, but where we’ve been locked away working on the new album we haven’t really been on the circuit so quite happy to let others get a chance. Next year though with a new album out – I’m expecting some calls…….or there will be bananas going up
exhausts and all sorts!!! Haha.
Yeah, it’s different. You never know what you’re getting with a festival though. Obviously we’re not a recognised establishment act, so we don’t play on the main stages (nor should we), so it all depends on what clashes with the main stage acts. We’ve had seas of people and we’ve had desolate empty tents. I suppose it’s just good to be involved and if you get a crowd that’s had a few and want a good time then you need to own it.
What’s it like working with Neville Staples?
Liam our Keys players works with him on occasion. I’ve heard nothing but good things about him and what a professional he is. One day, who knows – we may even collaborate on something. I’ll leave that to Liam to sort though!!
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
So many!!! But for me, right now the main man is Kevin Parker (Tame Impala). I only found out last year that he plays EVERYTHING on the Tame Impala albums. That’s just beyond mental. He’s a modern day Bowie. He writes, records, performs, sings, plays everything going and produces. I don’t think there are many better musicians than him at the moment. When you have huge pops act like Rihanna covering your songs – you kind of know that the mainstream is taking note. Gutted he let her though!!! He should have told her to gel right on and sing another song about an umbrella!!