The Slow Readers Club have shared the video for their new single, ‘All I Hear’, the first track to be taken from their upcoming fourth album, The Joy Of The Return, out March 20th via Modern Sky UK.
The video was produced in collaboration with Chris from Croftwerk and the band’s lighting designer, Ash, and sees an animated 3D representation of a six-sided parabola, which started life as a paper sculpture by Ruth Pestell.
The sculpture was then mapped point-by-point and run through software that emulates origami and projected onto and behind the band while they perform, creating an immersive background that pulsates and intensifies along with the track’s infectious and anthemic climax.
“It was great to work with our friend and visual collaborator Chris on this video,” say the band. “Seeing the graphics from the album come to life around us was a really cool experience. Can’t wait to see what people make of it.”
Recorded at Parr Street Studios in Liverpool and produced by long-standing collaborator Phil Bulleyment, The Joy Of The Return marks a significant change in the band’s process, with their extensive touring allowing them time to write and develop tracks and arrangements through soundchecks and back-of-van jams.
Throughout the album, the band explore a vast swathe of sonic territory, from the passionately delivered ‘All The Idols’, to the poppier tones of ‘Jericho’ that power through with bright indie guitar lines and ethereally melodic choruses.
The dark power-pop that defined their previous releases holds a strong influence, with the brooding ‘No Surprise’ providing a powerful dose of evocative lyricism amid immersive soundscapes, while the unsettling ‘Paris’ is an undulating exploration of observational songwriting and eclectic musicality.
The swelling, arena-sized ‘Zero Hour’ displays the enormity of The Slow Readers Club sound and sets the precedent for their incredibly exciting future, while ‘The Wait’ closes the album with a beautifully absorptive combination of atmospheric synths flipping the pace of the record on its head to intoxicating effect.
The new album comes on the back of another huge year for the band, which saw them play a mammoth 32-date European tour, and a number of sold out UK shows including London’s The Dome and two consecutive nights at Manchester’s The Ritz following the release of their critically acclaimed third album, Build A Tower.
The Slow Readers Club will embark on an extensive tour throughout the UK and EU in March, April and May, including shows in Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bristol and London’s Electric Ballroom, with many close to selling out. Full dates can be found below.
SPRING 2020 UK & EU TOUR DATES
23/03 – King George’s Hall, Blackburn
24/03 – The Sage 2, Gateshead
25/03 – The Liquid Room, Edinburgh
27/03 – O2 Academy, Liverpool
28/03 – O2 Institute 2, Birmingham
29/03 – The Globe, Cardiff
30/03 – Thekla, Bristol
01/04 – Pyramids Centre, Portsmouth
02/04 – Concorde 2, Brighton
03/04 – Electric Ballroom, London
04/04 – Rock City, Nottingham
06/04 – Junction, Cambridge
07/04 – Foundry, Sheffield
08/04 – Beckett University, Leeds
09/04 – Pyramid & Parr Hall, Warrington
13/04 – Bitterzoet, Amsterdam
14/04 – Trix Hall, Antwerp
16/04 – Luxor, Cologne
17/04 – Poligamie Festival, Dresden
19/04 – St. Pauli Rock Café, Hamburg
20/04 – Vega, Copenhagen
21/04 – Nalen, Stockholm
22/04 – John Dee, Oslo
24/04 – Musik & Freiden, Berlin
26/04 – Café V Lese, Prague
27/04 – A38, Budapest
29/04 – Culture Factory, Zagreb
30/04 – Papiersaal, Zurich
02/05 – Mare Culturale, Milan
03/05 – Montluçon, Le Guingois
05/05 – Supersonic, Paris
Tickets are available here – theslowreadersclub.co.uk/live-dates