ELBOW ANNOUNCE TENTH STUDIO ALBUM AUDIO VERTIGO TO BE RELEASED ON MARCH 22 ON POLYDOR/GEFFEN
ALBUM ARTWORK AND TRACKLIST REVEALED
elbow return today, offering a preview of their forthcoming album AUDIO VERTIGO, with a brand new single; “Lovers’ Leap.” The single comes with welcomed news of their tenth studio album which is due for release on March 22 via Polydor/GEFFEN. Pre-order/add/save AUDIO VERTIGO HERE.
“Lovers’ Leap” is the first new music from the band since 2021’s critically lauded ‘Flying Dream 1′ and marks a definite shift from that record’s intimate and delicate soundscape.
Like the album from which it is taken, “Lovers’ Leap” is rhythmically driven, musically diverse, restlessly innovative, and designed, in singer Guy Garvey’s words, “not to reflect but distract from the bad things happening in the world. We found seedy, gnarly grooves playing in back rooms and those pulled some dark memories and plenty of humor from me.” On an album that saw all members work in smaller groups to develop the songs that would form the record, “Lovers’ Leap” began with bassist Pete Turner and drummer Al Reeves working together.
Musically, that means Sly Stone horns, skittering beats, and hefty guitar lines colliding with close harmonies flecked with bleeps and glitches. Lyrically, it delivers a twisted and humorous rumination on why we love star crossed lovers so much and how we should celebrate it.
AUDIO VERTIGO was recorded throughout 2023 at the band’s individual studios, Migration Studios, Gloucestershire, and finalized at the band’s facility at Blueprint Studios, Salford, the album marks a significant step change for the group following 2021’s Flying Dream 1.
In the words of lead singer and lyricist Guy Garvey, AUDIO VERTIGO was built from “gnarly, seedy grooves created by us playing together in garagey rooms,” and is both more direct and sonically varied by purpose than its predecessor.
Characterized by the band as an album heavy on stomp, swing, and infectious oil-can funk beats, AUDIO VERTIGO sees elbow on the front foot, fusing their love of varied and various styles on a collection that ranges from the Beastie Boys meets Bonham breaks of opener ”Things I’ve Been Telling Myself for Years” to the lead single “Lovers’ Leap” and the infectiously funky “Balu”.
The wide screen ambition doesn’t end with the music. Guy delivers a lyrical sweep that considers our obsession with star crossed lovers, admonishes, and forgives his self-delusion, puzzles the nature of loss in a digital age, and narrates a real-life knife fight, all the while finding friends, real and imagined, and experiences, genuine and mythical, along the way.
AUDIO VERTIGO will see its release via Polydor/GEFFEN Records on March 22, 2024, on vinyl album, CD, and digital download.
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Background Photo Credit: Athena Caramitsos
