NEW ALBUM NOW OR WHENEVER GETS NEW RELEASE DATE OF 7 JANUARY 2022, VIA MOTH NOISE
UK HEADLINE TOUR ON SALE NOW
Spector have shared a surprise new single, ‘Country Boy’,
‘Country Boy’ is a bonus gift to fans after it was recently announced the band’s highly anticipated third album Now Or Whenever would now receive a delayed release of January 7th, due to industry-wide delays in vinyl production.
Now Or Whenever is the long awaited third full length release from the cult band. The album follows the critically acclaimed Enjoy It While It Lasts (2012), Moth Boys (2015) and EP compilation Non-Fiction (2020), records which built a culture around the group and accrued them a fiercely loyal fan base, making Spector one of Britain’s most-loved alternative outfits.
Though not appearing on the forthcoming album, ‘Country Boy’ is indicative of Spector’s remarkable current era as a band, creating some of the most affecting, resonant and relatable music of their career. Speaking about the track, Fred Macpherson explains, “Country Boy’s a mini epic torn between glam and glum. It didn’t quite make it to Now or Whenever but almost acts as a coda to the album. Lyrically, it deals in the doom we feel more comfortable discussing with strangers, during the desperate conversations which only rear their heads when the (Wetherspoons) bell finally tolls. Jed evokes Mick Ronson, I narrowly avoid Mick Hucknall and Rich Turvey’s production shines.
It’s one of the few songs we wrote for the record which touches on world events, which is maybe why it didn’t fit on there. But I’m glad people are getting to hear it now, as we slowly transition out of the plague years into whatever’s coming next.”
Now Or Whenever is out January 7th on the band’s own label Moth Noise, the full tracklist can be found below, alongside the dates for the band’s UK headline tour (also rescheduled for January), for which tickets are on sale now.
More info on Now Or Whenever
Following the success of their 2019 tour and singles compilation Non-Fiction, Spector started work on Now or Whenever in the Spring of 2020. With band members locked down in different cities and countries, the core duo of Fred Macpherson and Jed Cullen opted for a more collaborative process than usual, working with friends and contemporaries both online and in the flesh where possible. An improvisatory approach to music and lyrics was encouraged, and in the absence of gigs the songs took on the idea of a theoretical concert of new material, delivered in the spirit of their impassioned live shows. The final songs were recorded in January 2021 at Coastal Sound, Liverpool by Rich Turvey (Blossoms, The Coral) who emphasised performances over production and heavier, stripped down arrangements.
Inspired by the vocal stylings and layered harmonies of British folk rock (Strawbs, Steeleye Span), the drunken riffs of American eighties alternative (The Replacements, Husker Dü) and raucous energy of Antipodean pub rock (Th’ Dudes, The Radiators), Now or Whenever is the sound of Spector at their irreverent best. Lyrics explore themes of time, memory, hope, the near future, cars and emotionally repressed adult friendships, but a sense of positivity shines through the fatalistic musings the band have become synonymous with.
It’s their first album with live instrumentation throughout, with drums recorded straight to decaying, thirty year old tape by Nicolas Py, the French cornerstone of Spector’s touring party for the last four years. Jed Cullen’s guitar also bursts into the foreground, experimenting with alternate tunings, drones and equipment left orphaned at the studio by the likes of Clinic and Chris De Burg.
“In some ways this is our first proper guitar album” explains Fred. “And the first album we’ve made in one studio in one sitting which is crazy. Next year will be the tenth anniversary of Enjoy It While It Lasts which feels like forever, but I think it’s taken us that long to work out what’s good about us and how to capture it. Which kind of makes Now or Whenever both a sequel and a reboot. Had last year unfolded differently, maybe this would be our big depressing opus, but when positivity’s taken away you have to create your own, and somehow that’s left us with our most upbeat record yet.”
“When there are huge changes happening on a global level and absolutely nothing happening on a local level, people ask you how you’ve been, what you’ve been up to etc. and there’s not much to say that they don’t already know” adds Jed. “So we start talking and writing about the past and the future as if to escape from this paradoxically mundane/extreme present. Then you step back and you realise that the strange conditions of the time are pervading your conversations and it’s coming out in the music in ways you didn’t expect.”
Album Tracklist1. When Saturday Comes2. Catch You On The Way Back In3. Do You Wanna Drive4. Norwegian Air5. Funny Way of Showing It6. No One Knows Better7. I’m Not Crying You’re Crying8. Bad Summer9. D-Roy10. This Time Next Year11. An American Warehouse In London
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My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago and married my childhood sweetheart and life is good.
