Miss Vincent kickstart a new chapter today, unveiling their vintage-tinged new single Melanie following its premiere on BBC Radio 1 Rock Show last night. Taking their backbone of dark punk to new heights with soaring, romantic melodies, combined with a cinematic and retro visual dealing with loss and grief, the track is a statement of intent for further things to come.
‘Melanie is a song that came together really quickly’ explains vocalist and guitarist Alex Marshall, ‘I’ve always loved 50s rock’n’roll, and one of my favourite elements of that era is the immediacy of the songs, which is something we really wanted to come across on this track. For the video, I cast my mind around to stories of loss. One of my favourite films (and comics) is V for Vendetta, and the story of Valerie’s Letter is one of my favourite scenes of all time. It’s incredibly harrowing, and it’s always stuck with me. That was the basis for the premise behind the video – to take that narrative as a reference point, and to build our own from it. That was the basis for the premise behind the video – to take both those two narratives as a reference point, and to build our own from it. The narrative allows for a fair bit of viewer interpretation, which is cool. I know exactly how we see it, but I think it’s almost better that people can take their own meaning from it.’
Melanie drops ahead of their support on Creeper’s Reading & Leeds warm-up shows, alongside Doll Skin. Dates for the run are:
20th Aug – Dover Booking Hall **SOLD OUT**
21st Aug – Leicester Dryden St. Social **SOLD OUT**
22nd Aug – Stoke Sugarmill **SOLD OUT**
Alex comments, ‘We’re stoked to be joining Creeper on the road! They’re a great band and rad people. We’ve been talking about doing shows together for the longest time, so it’s great that we get to head out for a few dates together. The rooms are pretty intimate by their standards, so we’re expecting to witness some carnage each night. For us, it’s a great chance to get in front of some new people and show them what we’re all about. Having a new song out for the shows is really exciting too, as we’ve been locked away for a while creating what’s coming next, and this is the first taste of it’
Since their inception in 2013, Miss Vincent have worked tirelessly to build their own breed of punk, bubbling under the surface as a tenacious and blistering live force. Highlights to date include support to the likes of As It Is, Bayside, Energy and Calabrese.
Miss Vincent have spent much of 2018 working on new music, with Melanie being the first cut since last year’s EP Somewhere Else (7/10 – Rock Sound, KKK – Kerrang!) released on Uncle M (Muncie Girls, The Smith Street Band, Apologies, I Have None). Alex explains, ‘We’ve sat in a lot of dark rooms over the past few months, writing and recording the next chapter of Miss Vincent. I can’t say too much about it right now – both because some stuff is still up in the air, and anything that is organised already isn’t announced just yet – but I can say that we’re incredibly proud of what’s to come. Every band ever comes out of the studio saying “this is the best thing we’ve ever done”, but somehow that just doesn’t cut it here. What we’ve made together this time is the first time I’ve ever finished a body of music and been so proud of it that I almost don’t care if anyone else likes it. Obviously, we want everyone to love it, because we love to play shows, connect with an audience, we love touring and we really want to be able to do that as often as possible. But for me, this is the sound in my head. It’s the first time we’ve been able to nail it down to the point that if people ask me what Miss Vincent is, I can show them exactly. It’s real, it’s natural, and the songs are fucking great’
More self-assured than ever, Miss Vincent are on the brink of something great. Watch this space for further news.