TEENAGE FANCLUB RETURN IN MARCH WITH NEW ALBUM ENDLESS ARCADE & SHARE NEW SINGLE “HOME”
MERGE RECORDS
Welcome back, Teenage Fanclub! Endless Arcade, the legendary Scottish group’s first album since 2016’s Here, is out March 5. Pre-order today on CD, LP, and translucent pink Peak Vinyl packaged in a special die-cut jacket in the (newly relaunched) Merge shop, or wherever records are sold. The first 100 Peak Vinyl orders in our store will receive a 12” × 12” print signed by the band.
Accompanying the album announcement is Endless Arcade’s opening song “Home,” with a music video to follow tomorrow. Though the track stretches to seven minutes on the album, its coda has been saved for the record’s release day. What we are left with is an incredible display of the assured and relaxed pop that we’ve grown to admire from the group.
Endless Arcade is quintessential TFC: melodies are equal parts heartwarming and heartaching, guitars chime and distort, keyboard lines mesh and spiral, harmony-coated choruses burst out like sun on a stormy day.
In the 1990s, the band crafted a magnetically heavy yet harmony-rich sound on classic albums such as Bandwagonesque and Grand Prix. This century, albums such as Shadows and Here have documented a more relaxed, less “teenage” Fanclub, reflecting the band’s stage in life and state of mind, alongside which Endless Arcade slots perfectly. The album walks a beautifully poised line between melancholic and uplifting, infused with simple truths. The importance of home, community, and hope is entwined with more bittersweet, sometimes darker thoughts of insecurity, anxiety, and loss.
Still, the title track suggests, “Don’t be afraid of this endless arcade that is life.”
Pre-order Endless Arcade today, and join the Fanclub on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.