More about: Biffy Clyro

Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil has revealed how mental health troubles led him to “doubt his songwriting ability” in the early stages of writing the band’s new album Ellipsis. 

Speaking to NME, Neil explains that personal circumstances and the death of close ones combined with a heavy touring schedule in 2013 had taken their toll on his mental health, leaving him in a “funk” that lasted around five weeks.

"I had a bit of a ‘do’," Neil says. “Storm [Thorgerson, designer of their artwork] died; my gran died; my best friend’s brother died on Christmas Day… It felt like when things couldn’t get any worse, they just kept getting worse.”

Concluding that he "needed to sort [his] fucking shit out", Neil and his wife took a short break away from Scotland in LA, where his mood eventually lifted and he felt able to write again. “That was the turning point in getting my confidence back,” he explained.

Biffy Clyro recently premiered the video for new single ‘Wolves of Winter’ on Facebook, before Ellipsis drops on 8 July. 

Discussing the new single, frontman Simon Neil stated: “Wolves of Winter is about us being wolves on a patch and if you come onto that patch, we’ll tear you limb-from-limb.”

‘Ellipsis’ was recorded with producer Rich Costey, who has also worked with Muse, My Chemical Romance and Sigur Ros, with Neil describing its sound as "more of a punch to the nose than a big cuddle."

Biffy Clyro were recently announced as headliners at this summer’s Reading (August 28) and Leeds Festivals (August 26). They are also scheduled to play a show at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park on August 27, alongside special guests Wolf Alice, Fall Out Boy and Cage The Elephant.

More about: Biffy Clyro