June 4th saw the physical release of the highly anticipated album Enlightenmental from 5 piece power-pop outfit Shatner, following a successful and oversubscribed pledge campaign, and recent BBC airplay for the album’s lead tracks Heterosapien and We Go Woo.
Hard to pin to a particular genre, Shatner have recently been described as somewhere between The Clash, XTC and The B52s.
Jim Bower, the band’s main songwriter, known for underpinning infectious songs with a smart and often darkly humorous subtext, teamed up with Paul Morricone for this album. Paul is known for his work with another legendary Yorkshire band, The Scaramanga Six.
Recent line-up changes have led the band in a more strident guitar-led direction, and working with Producer James Kenosha (Pulled Apart By Horses, Carl Barat, Marmosets, Dinosaur Pile Up and more) the band have made an accomplished new album that they are confident will move them along from ‘local heroes’ to a much wider recognition.
Check out lead single Heterosapien below!
We managed to catch up with the band as they talked about their latest release and more!
How has the initial response of Enlightenmental been so far?
Fans have loved it. We are only just starting to see reactions from the media but so far every review has been really positive. No negative comments at all yet!
Can you tell us something about the album no one else knows?
Every track was written recently except one, which was written a long time ago – in 1990 to be precise.
What’s your favourite track from the release?
My motto is “all killer, no filler” – there are no wasted tracks, if I don’t 100% love them, they don’t get in. So it’s hard to pick a favourite. I thought “Heterosapien” was the most instant and a good representation of the band, so we chose that as a single. There are others I’m more emotionally invested in, others which make better statements, others which are more melodic, they are all favourites for different reasons.
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
If you mean a band currently active today, I’d say Sparks, although Franz Ferdinand got there first. If I had a time machine probably the Beatles or maybe David Bowie when he was with Mick Ronson.
What do you get up to in your spare time when not working on music?
We all have jobs, sadly it’s hard to make money out of music these days!
What was the first gig you ever went to?
It was a loooooong time ago! Eddie and The Hot Rods supported by The Members, March 1979.
What got you in to music in the first place?
There was never a time when I wasn’t. My parents bought a piano for £10 when I was about 9 years old, I used to make ‘albums’ with a cassette recorder. I’ve pretty much done the same thing ever since.
What’s the alternative scene like in West Yorkshire?
It’s always been great, at any given time there are dozens of acts who should be capable of national and international recognition. I’ve no real explanation why we are under represented compared to, say, Manchester.
What’s it like being supported by the likes of the BBC?
Very useful. If you want to get listened to, we have the internet but radio still has a big reach. I only wish they would put us on TV!