Brudenell Social Club
33 Queen's Road, Leeds
Sun
May 26, 2024
7:00 pm
BST
Brudenell Presents...
Arab Strap
£25.00 adv. Sold Out
“As soon as we started this it felt like album two,” says Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap’s 8th LP. “It definitely feels like a fresh start from where we used to be.”
2021’s critically acclaimed top 15 charting album, As Days Get Dark, was Arab Strap’s first album since 2005 and it started them on a new chapter that is now being extended and expanded. “When a lot of bands reform they are too preoccupied with the past and want to try and recapture a sound they used to have,” Moffat says. “Which is impossible, that's not coming back. We're not trying to sound like old Arab Strap. Phase one, if you like, was focused on the ugliness and messiness of romance as a youngster, and that's just not what Arab Strap sings about anymore. It feels like two different bands.”
The first phase of Arab Strap that the band refer to, began all the way back in 1995 when Malcom Middleton and Moffat began collaborating, blending lo-fi, post-rock, and a unique twist on alternative music – combined with Moffat’s deeply personal, romantic and darkly funny lyrics - that quickly positioned them as a band that sounded like no other. John Peel loved them, they had a stint on a major record label and before bowing out in 2006 they released six albums that remain hugely beloved, acclaimed and influential.
The pair once again worked with long term producer Paul Savage, which provided them with a steady footing to experiment more and push things further into a new sonic realm. “We didn't want to mess with the way we work,” says Middleton. “I think that's important. It’s good to have trust in the person we’re working with who can tell us what's right and wrong. We couldn’t take that from someone we didn’t know.”
I'm totally fine with it
2021’s critically acclaimed top 15 charting album, As Days Get Dark, was Arab Strap’s first album since 2005 and it started them on a new chapter that is now being extended and expanded. “When a lot of bands reform they are too preoccupied with the past and want to try and recapture a sound they used to have,” Moffat says. “Which is impossible, that's not coming back. We're not trying to sound like old Arab Strap. Phase one, if you like, was focused on the ugliness and messiness of romance as a youngster, and that's just not what Arab Strap sings about anymore. It feels like two different bands.”
The first phase of Arab Strap that the band refer to, began all the way back in 1995 when Malcom Middleton and Moffat began collaborating, blending lo-fi, post-rock, and a unique twist on alternative music – combined with Moffat’s deeply personal, romantic and darkly funny lyrics - that quickly positioned them as a band that sounded like no other. John Peel loved them, they had a stint on a major record label and before bowing out in 2006 they released six albums that remain hugely beloved, acclaimed and influential.
The pair once again worked with long term producer Paul Savage, which provided them with a steady footing to experiment more and push things further into a new sonic realm. “We didn't want to mess with the way we work,” says Middleton. “I think that's important. It’s good to have trust in the person we’re working with who can tell us what's right and wrong. We couldn’t take that from someone we didn’t know.”
I'm totally fine with it