We’ve been big fans of A Silent Film for quite some time now, bringing the boys in for a gorgeously great CraveOnstage studio session and rocking the bill on Crave’s incredible SXSW show a few years back. Now the UK rockers have announced their return with the new self-titled, full-length studio album A Silent Film to be released October 16 via the band’s own label Silent Songs – and we’re thrilled to premiere the album’s debut single, the intensely captivating “Lightning Strike”.
Produced by the band’s Robert Stevenson and Spencer Walker, with assistance from Matthew Wilcox (Foster the People, Bethel Music), the 11-track album was recorded in the band’s hometown of Oxford, UK. In support of the album release, the band will also return to the U.S. for a tour this fall – get tickets at the band’s official site and receive a free download of the album on October 16 with pre-sale promo code ASFLightning.
. A damn fine deal if you ask us. But first, have a listen to this radio-baiting gem, exclusively on Crave:
“’Lightning Strike’ feels like the song we have been trying to write for years,” says Stevenson, and it sounds like it. A tremendously connective track, it serves as an emotional uptick from the band’s signature hit “Danny, Dakota & The Wishing Well,” with a clear evolution of sound. Centered on the longing for a meaningful relationship amidst the passion of youth, Walker adds, “The song was a very late addition to the album, so late in fact that the live strings and vocals had to be recorded before everything else due to scheduling conflicts. The drums, bass and guitars were then recorded live in a single day as an overdub, it was mixed the next day and away it went.”
The highly anticipated follow up to critically acclaimed LP Sand & Snow, the bands’ new self-titled album A Silent Film was recorded in the band’s hometown over a five-week period following the Secret Rooms tour. “It was good to work from home and get back in touch with ourselves and our families after 3-4 years of touring,” says Walker. Very much a homegrown recording, the album was written in Stevenson’s house where the two invited friends from across the UK and US who had played with them on tour to help with the recording. Sam Williams (Supergrass, The Go! Team, The Weeks), who recorded A Silent Film’s debut album The City That Sleeps was on mixing duties, and the album was mastered at Metropolis studios in London.
For their third full-length album the band aspired to write and record a collection of songs that had their own identity and didn’t drift off to follow current trends. “Our mission was to please ourselves first and foremost, while never compromising our initial instincts,” says Stevenson. “Pushing ourselves further than we have before has allowed us to write the kind of music we can see ourselves enjoying playing live more than ever.” Walker notes “When we played a couple of low key shows in London and Oxford during the making of the album we knew we were onto something from the audience reaction.”
“We cannot wait to play this album live,” says Stevenson. “Matthew Wilcox will be joining us onstage and we’ll be playing as a five piece now as the music has become more demanding. The band is growing along with the stage show.”
A SILENT FILM tracklist:
- Something To Believe In
- Lightning Strike
- Chinese Lanterns
- I Don’t Need A Reason
- Paralysed
- Evergreen
- Lake Swimming
- Lavender Fields
- Strong Enough
- Where Snowbirds Have Flown
- Losing Hand
A SILENT FILM CONFIRMED U.S. TOUR DATES:
DATE CITY/STATE VENUE
October 14 San Diego, CA The Casbah
October 17 West Hollywood, CA Troubadour
October 19 San Francisco, CA The Independent
October 21 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
October 23 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
October 25 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
October 26 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
October 27 Detroit, MI The Shelter
October 29 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
October 30 Indianapolis, IN Rathskeller
November 1 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
November 2 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
November 4 Cambridge, MA The Sinclair
November 5 Uncasville, CT Wolf Den @ Mohegan Sun
November 6 Brooklyn, NY Rough Trade
November 7 Washington, DC Rock ‘n Roll Hotel
November 9 Charlotte, NC The Neighborhood Theatre
November 10 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade – Purgatory
November 11 Nashville, TN 3rd & Lindsley
November 13 Gainesville, FL High Dive
November 14 Orlando, FL The Social
November 16 Tampa, FL The Crowbar
November 18 New Orleans, LA The Parish @ HOB
November 19 Dallas, TX Club Dada
November 20 Austin, TX Stubbs Jr.
November 21 Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
November 24 Phoenix, AZ Valley Bar
* additional dates TBA
For more information visit A Silent Film online:
Official website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
