Seminal Scottish indie rockers Idlewild have today (8 February) revealed they will release their eighth studio album Interview Music on 5 April via the label Empty Words. And the band have shared the triumphant instant grat track 'Dream Variations.'.
The track has a lot of great qualities: a scintillating lead guitar riff with nods to Sonic Youth, Beach Boys harmonies, lead tremolo, distorted bass groove. It all leads to an impressive full, heavy sound. The weight of the instrumentation soon peels away, however. There's a Floyd-esque psychedelic pop breakdown awash with blissed out synths and harmonies and the mood switches to something more transcendental before fading out.
Says singer Roddy Woomble of the writing process of not only the single above but the album as a whole: "A lot of the songs are about dreams and dreaming and the thoughts and ideas that come from this state,” says Woomble. I live in the Scottish Highlands, and between there and California you’ve got two locations that can put you in a dream like state – driving down Sunset Boulevard as the sun sets or driving over the remote Ardnamurchan peninsula as the sun rises. The world seems unreal, magical. You’re dreaming through a landscape.”
This album Interview Music follows 2016's Everything Ever Written and has new members Luciano Rossi and Andrew Mitchell on board; joining Roddy Woomble, guitarist Rod Jones and drummer Colin Newton.
In other Idlewild news, 2018 marked 20 years since Idlewild's punk influenced debut album Hope Is Important came out on Food Records. It's a record that's indicative of raucous early punk shows they earned critical acclaim for yet fairly removed sonically from their sweeping melodic rock that would see them move from a cult curiosity to a charting band. Nevertheless, it proves a compelling era of the band to return to before plugging into the new album.
Interview Music tracklist:
1. Dream Variations
2. There’s A Place For Everything
3. Interview Music
4. All These Words
5. You Wear It Second Hand
6. Same Things Twice
7. I Almost Didn’t Notice
8. Miracles
9. Mount Analogue
10. Forever New
11. Bad Logic
12. Familiar To Ignore
13. Lake Martinez
Pre-order the album here.
Idlewild are on tour and tickets will be avialable from Friday 15 February.
April
19 - Liverpool, Grand Central Hall
20 - Bristol, Anson Rooms
22 - Exeter, Phoenix
23 - Southampton, Engine Rooms
25 - Leeds, Beckett Uni
26 - London, o2 Forum
28 - Birmingham, o2 Institute
29 - Manchester, o2 Ritz
30 - Norwich, Waterfront
May
01 - Cambridge, Junction
02 - Newcastle, Riverside
04 - Glasgow, Barrowland Ballrom
05 - Aberdeen, Music Hall
