West Country roots rockers RICHARD DAVIES & THE DISSIDENTS are back with a new single and video from their acclaimed debut album Human Traffic.
‘Echo Road’ has proved one of the most popular tracks on the album, which was released in June through Bucketfull Of Brains Records, the label that brought you Trent Miller and John Murry.
The single is backed with a non-album cut, a specially recorded version of the song ‘Russian Roulette’, written by Generation X bassist Tony James and former Clash drummer Terry Chimes. Most people know it, though, from the debut album by the Lords Of The New Church.
“Echo Road is the first song that I wrote for the album,” explains Davies. “It’s about being unable to escape the past. I think we recorded a few versions, but this one felt like a good radio song. It’s also the first song that Neil [Scully, keyboards] played on. I wanted to write something accessible to as many people as possible. Hopefully I managed to do that!!!
“Russian Roulette has always been a fave of mine. I think it was Tim [Emery, bass]’s idea to record a version. It’s a bit of a sacred cow, but I think we managed to record a good version. Tony James wrote it and I love pretty much everything he ever did.”
Davies made his reputation as a guitarist with 90s indie-rockers Tiny Monroe and 00s alt.country types The Snakes, but this time around he steps up to the mic with help from members of Mega City Four (drummer Chris Cannon), Last Great Dreamers (Emery) and Case Hardin (Scully), with the album’s engineer and producer Nick Beere also on guitar.
The band were all set to play dates around the release of the album, but then lockdown put paid to that. They’ll now be appearing at The Abbey Arms, Abbey Wood in South London on 26 September alongside King Salami & The Cumberland Three, Oh Gunquit, Sister Suzie and more.
‘Echo Road’ and ‘Russian Roulette’ are available through Spotify, Amazon, Apple and all the usual digital platforms.
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