Brighton-based, Aberdeen-originating The XCERTS today announce their much-anticipated new album, i think i want to go home now., out 10th July via FLG Records.
In addition, the band share the album’s latest single and arguably their heaviest release to date, the fuzzed-out, fast-paced “pretty ugly”. Written during a period of intense personal strain, the track channels a sense of anger and frustration, with vocalist Murray Macleod confronting both internal struggles and external pressures, lashing out at criticism while processing deeply personal experiences.
Listen to “pretty ugly” HERE
Speaking on the single, Macleod says: “A nod to Scatterbrain but also heavily inspired by UK post hardcore bands like Kids Near Water and Tribute to Nothing whilst pushing the sound forward. Lyrically, it’s comically brutal. The vocals are borderline incoherent but that was intentional.”
“Another emotion I haven’t put in a song for a very long time is anger and at the time I found myself feeling very angry at the world. So this song takes a swipe at people who were criticising the band during a period when my family was going through a lot”
“The second verse is about my father and what he was going through after his cancer diagnosis. I reference the machinery that cut out my dad’s tumour, the Da Vinci XI, and also Van Gogh. ‘Maybe I’ll splatter my brains against the wall, then you can all dissect the art, I’ll do one better than Van Gogh and cut em both off.”
“The song is heavy in sound and heavy with emotion, so it was important to say something a bit left field because that’s what happens when you’re having an internal meltdown.”
Watch the music video for “pretty ugly” below
An undoubted career highlight long-player, the remarkably consistent and immediate songs on i think i want to go home now. are sonic manifestations of the mutual support and friendship that carried the band through a particularly turbulent period, including Smith’s mother passing away and Macleod’s dad facing a cancer scare.
The new album also sees the band reconnecting with the raw urgency that defined early releases In The Cold Wind We Smile, Scatterbrain and There Is Only You. Intriguingly, there are a number of stark similarities to that very first record. Smith had lost his father before they made that one, and Macleod had gone through a devastating break-up. To say that history has repeated itself would undermine the emotional gravitas of these latest life experiences, but the band found it hard not to draw comparisons between then and now.
Alongside the album announcement, the band also share news that they will perform a full run-through of i think i want to go home now. at their 2000 Trees Festival set, a festival and community they have returned to numerous times over the past 20 years and which has become something of a spiritual home for the band. In addition, they will appear at Arbroath Festival and embark on a run of dates with old friends Twin Atlantic in June. A full list of live dates can be found below.
“It was really time for us to band together and celebrate our friendship,” says Macleod, speaking further on the album. “We’re so proud that we’re still doing this, because we started the band 23 years ago. It’s astonishing really. This really is the purest Xcerts record there’s been since the first one. We dug really deep to discover what the defining sound of our band is and bled it all out”.
The power and strength of The XCERTS, both musically and personally, in the face of adversity is once again abundantly clear.
i think i want to go home now. arrives 10th July. Pre-order HERE.
The XCERTS live:
9th June – Stirling – Albert Hall (with Twin Atlantic)
10th June – Edinburgh – La Belle Angele (with Twin Atlantic)
11th June – Aberdeen – Beach Ballroom (with Twin Atlantic)
11th July – 2000 Trees Festival (full album playthrough set)
1st August – Arbroath Music and Food Festival