Life have announced their fourth studio album ‘Abstract/Natural’ – listen to new single ‘The Dollywagon’ below.
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The Hull band are due to release the follow-up to 2022’s ‘North East Coastal Town’ on June 19 via Launchpad+ in partnership with EMI North. Pre-order/pre-save here.
The striking first taste of the forthcoming record boasts swirling synths, rapid-fire drums and near stream-of-consciousness lines from frontman Mez Sanders-Green – who portrays a protagonist caught between escape and self-reckoning.
“I never wanted to leave myself, but I’m leaving now,” he sings, while being driven by a restless sense of adventure: “The placard reads right to roam, and the boy is roaming.”
‘The Dollywagon’ was written while Sanders-Green was walking the 193-mile UK coast-to-coast route. The single explores a physical and emotional journey from the West Coast, over the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, across the moors, and finally to the group’s home on the East Coast.
“‘The Dollywaggon”s universal theme is about letting go and moving on – new adventures and beginnings,” explained Sanders-Green. “I wrote the lyrics whilst doing a long-distance walk, turning what I saw into characters and scenes.”
He continued: “I like to think it sounds like a pulpy Northern-based western – cryptic placards, farmers hanging dead moles on chicken wire, phallic mountains, pikes and ridges, Mother Earth always winning. The middle-eight feels like a salute to the new.
“In many ways, the track became the blueprint for the whole record.”
‘The Dollywagon’ is accompanied by a black-and-white, split-screen official music video, created by James Cooper and Luke Hallett.
The 10-track ‘Abstract/Natural’ was recorded at Life’s own studio in Hull, The Moon Factory. Production comes from Stewart Baxter and Oliver Varga, with James Kenosha mixing and Stephen Kerrison mastering.
Capturing the sense of movement found on ‘The Dollywagon’, the LP depicts characters rooted in folklore and their surrounding landscape. The project delves into observations on fatherhood, freedom and personal evolution.
A press release describes the album as “a body of work that feels both intimate and outward-looking”, saying that it “began life not in a rehearsal room, but on the pages of a poetry book Mez has been writing”.
Sanders-Green eventually presented snippets to his bandmates (Stewart Baxter, Lydia Palmeira and Mick Sanders) after finding melodies in his words. They went on to shape the music around these “wonky lullabies”, creating “vivid arrangements that collectively present a fully-realised universe”.
The resulting album is said to be Life’s “most expansive and experimental work to date: story-rich, exploratory and beautifully rooted in a sense of place”.
The tracklist for Life’s ‘Abstract/Natural’ is as follows:
1. ‘Wild Grasses’
2. ‘The Dollywaggon’
3. ‘Turning In’
4. ‘Thistles Kiss’
5. ‘Mermaid Feet’
6. ‘My Yan’
7. ‘Drinking Games’
8. ‘Sun In Nancy’
9. ‘Buried Giant’
10. ‘Morning Fog’
Life are set to play a series of UK in-store shows in June to mark the album’s release. These will take place in Brighton, London, Liverpool and Leeds – find any remaining tickets here.
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