Alternative three piece THE XCERTS today announce their new album track ‘BLAME’, taken from their upcoming album ‘LEARNING HOW TO LIVE AND LET GO’ out August 18th via UNFD. Pre-order the album on CD and vinyl here, listen to ‘Blame’ on all streaming services here, and check out the band’s self directed one-shot, one-take live vocal video for the track here.
‘Blame’, the newest cut from the forthcoming full length, recalls the pop earworms, poetic lyrical turns and ‘band in a room’ passion that has made The XCERTS so universally loved. A fizzing slap of anxiety and confessional self-loathing set to a soundtrack of driving guitars and urgent melody, ‘Blame’ was born out of the band’s self-described “3 piece chemistry” in their rehearsal room, and stands out as the only non-studio penned song on the album.
Fellow Brightonian Laura-Mary Carter from Blood Red Shoes also lends her vocal talents to the track, adding real weight to the shoegaze influence scattered across the songs of ‘Learning…’
Speaking on the track, frontman Murray explained; “‘Blame’ is the most quintessential XCERTS song on the new record. It was important for us to look back but push the boundaries of what, in essence, is quite a simple pop song. The majority of the new record was written in the studio, but we crafted this one in the rehearsal room and I feel like you can hear the ‘3 piece’ chemistry and urgency within the recording. It’s a song about accountability and no longer looking for a scapegoat when things go wrong, and realising I’ve really hurt people in the past with my thoughtlessness. I was once told ‘if you can’t spot the dickhead in the room, it’s probably you’. I guess it’s our first (hyper) self-aware song lyrically.”
Reflecting on the album itself, Murray shares: “We knew we wanted to approach this album differently in regards to the recording process. Each album we’ve made in the past has been extremely traditional but this time round we wanted to engulf ourselves in the studio environment and work without limitations. It was definitely time for us to shake things up and feel a certain level of discomfort in order to achieve our vision. We didn’t want to rest on our laurels. We spent a year working closely with our friend Steven Graham Ansell in his studio, which became our sanctuary. Each day was so inspiring as we had no idea where these ideas would take us. Working without fear for the first time proved to be so rewarding.”
The album pre-order and announcement came at the end of April alongside the release of ‘Jealousy’, another impressive new cut and turn of direction from the upcoming record. In January, the band released the first single from this new iteration of the band, the brash & bombastic ‘GIMME’, which was widely praised by critics and described as “a furiously catchy, superbly punchy return” by CLASH Magazine. This was followed by the gloriously optimistic ‘Ache’ featuring Sam Carter of Architects and was described by DIY as “another lesson in alt-pop brilliance.”
The band also announced details of their October UK headline tour, starting in Southampton on Tuesday 3rd, hitting London’s Lafayette on the 5th and finishing up in Aberdeen and Glasgow on the 13th and 14th respectively. Full dates below, tickets available now.
About The XCERTS:
The XCERTS consist of frontman Murray Macleod, bassist Jordan Smith and drummer Tom Heron and released their debut album ‘In the Cold Wind We Smile’ in 2009. The band have toured the world over since their debut, building an incredible fan base of loyal fans and have released four albums to date, including the acclaimed ‘There Is Only You’ (2014) and ‘Hold onto Your Heart’ (2018).
Full upcoming tour dates
Jul 7 – 2000 Trees Festival, Cheltenham
Jul 29 – Belladrum Festival, Inverness
Oct 3 – The Joiners, Southampton
Oct 4 – Cavern, Exeter
Oct 5 – Lafayette, London
Oct 7 – The Waterfront Studio, Norwich
Oct 8 – Hare & Hound, Birmingham
Oct 9 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Oct 11 – The Deaf Institute, Manchester
Oct 12 – Xerox, Newcastle
Oct 13 – The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
Oct 14 – St Luke’s Glasgow
