Acclaimed Southampton rock band Band Of Skulls will release their fifth album ‘Love Is All You Love’ on April 12, 2019 via So Recordings. The follow-up to 2016’s ‘By Default’, the new album was produced by Richard X, who also co-wrote four of the tracks. The euphoric lead single ‘Cool Your Battles’ is available to stream now and as an instant grat with album pre-orders.
Band Of Skulls will support the album release with a series of special shows throughout release week, kicking off with a hometown show at Southampton Central Hall on April 11 and including Islington Assembly Hall in London on April 16. Exclusive Album and Ticket bundles available now from https://www.bandofskulls.com/tour/
‘Love Is All You Love’ was recorded in London’s Miloco Studios, The Smoakstack studio in Nashville, and in the Southampton studio of Band Of Skulls founder members’ Russell Marsden (guitar, vocals) and Emma Richardson (bass, vocals). Following the amicable departure of drummer Matt Hayward, Russell and Emma started the writing process for the record in 2017 and quickly accumulated a host of
new songs. It was a free and experimental process mixing electronic and live instruments, working quickly, getting ideas down, then moving on.
Work then switched to The Toyshop studio at Miloco to collaborate with Richard X, known for his innovative production with artists from Pet Shop Boys to Goldfrapp to Sugababes, whose ‘Freak Like Me’ was one of the standout singles of the 2000s. Richard X encouraged Band Of Skulls new spirit of experimentation, pushing the combination of live and electronic as mixing the two was creating interesting dynamics. Once the writing was complete the band decamped to Nashville to record the live element of the record with Eagles Of Death Metal’s Julian Dorio on drums.
All these elements added a heavy punch and power to ‘Love Is All You Love’, especially on the unrelenting ‘Carnivorous’ and short sharp shock of ‘That’s My Trouble’. ‘Cool Your Battles is more widescreen, while ‘We’re Alive’ has a heavy dance pulse with a touch of melancholy. The song ‘Love Is All You Love’ focuses on the groove and keeps the feel of when they tracked it live in Nashville. This song in particular seems to encapsulate the sentiment of the whole record.
Since 2009, Band Of Skulls have released four acclaimed studio albums and have built a reputation as a phenomenal live act, both at home and in the US, where they have performed on the Late Show With David Letterman, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Last Call with Carson Daly. They have toured with luminaries like Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens Of The Stone Age and Black Keys among others, as well as touring the globe as a headline act.
‘BAND OF SKULLS ‘LOVE IS ALL YOU LOVE’ TRACK LIST:
- Carnivorous
- That’s My Trouble
- Love Is All You Love
- Not The Kind Of Nothing
- Cool Your Battles
- Sound Of You
- Thanks A Lot
- We’re Alive
- Speed Of Light
- Gold
RELEASE WEEK TOUR, APRIL 2019
THURS 11 CENTRAL HALL, SOUTHAMPTON
FRI 12 ST. GEORGES CHURCH, BRIGHTON
SUN 14 TRAMSHED, CARDIFF
MON 15 KOMEDIA, BATH
TUES 16 ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL, LONDON
THURS 18 ST LUKES CHURCH, GLASGOW
Check out single ‘Cool Your Battles’ from the upcoming album below!
We managed to catch up with the band as they talked about their upcoming album and more!
So how pumped are you for your upcoming album ‘Love Is All You Love’
Off the scale actually, it’s been a very fun album to make and we can’t wait to share it.
What is your favourite track from this album?
I’ll have to go for the title track, it’s a song that had something special from day one. It sums up our feeling right now, yet could have been on anything we’ve put out. Sometimes songs just appear to you and you have to thank your lucky stars, this is one of those.
How was it recording the album at London’s Miloco Studios?
Yeah it was a welcome change. Recording in London rather than say picturesque countryside, seemed to feed into the songs with a different energy. The sessions there helped us glue the lo-fi ideas we started out with and the Nashville sound we sought out in Tennessee . We carved out the songs which made the album with Richard X in the toyshop, the old Chemical Brothers room.
How has the single Cool Your Battles gone done with fans so far?
We’ve been overwhelmed with the good vibes. It’s a song we really believe in and has a message for our current, chaotic times. We’ve recently filmed the video which has really added another level completely.
So you will be playing a local show at Southampton’s Central Hall on your tour which doesn’t show that many gigs, how did this come about?
We are celebrating the albums release with gigs all over the uk. It started with us looking for a new place to play in Southampton. As you can imagine we’ve played all over this city! That idea continued to the tour and we tried to find unusual venues in every place we were looking at. The other thing is if you buy our new album, you get a ticket to the tour. It’s going to be a week long party. As it should be.
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
We’ve just got into collaborating with other artists recently, Richard X of course, Archive and with Mikky Ekko in America. In the future we’d love to work with someone from a totally different musical world. Either that or be secret members of another band completely. Why? Because it’s great to keep learning, and to surprise people.
As I live near Southampton, I have seen you around at gigs in the local area, do you normally check out upcoming acts around the Southampton area?
As much as we can, there is still a thriving scene here and we love to remain a part of it. Venues like the Joiners and more recently Heartbreakers really keep it alive. Another recent addition would have to be Vinilo, a independent record store that is supporting the local scene and putting on shows.