Gallus ‘Depressed Beyond Tablets’
Laced with charm and immense energy, Gallus’ latest offering of social-commentary rock demonstrates a realisation that masking temporary issues by quick fixes or pills is unsustainable. Produced and engineered by Blair Crichton, ‘Depressed Beyond Tablets’ encapsulates the live-show energy fans have come to adore from the lads, oozing with a renowned charisma reminiscent of The Hives and Viagra Boys.
Frontman Barry Dolan comments, “‘Depressed Beyond Tablets’ came from a line Eamon and I found funny in Brass Eye. We were inspired to explore the feeling of finding yourself beyond the tolerable limits of the world and not having anything within your control. It’s almost like realising there’s no point in trying to right the wrongs in your life with medicine or self-help and wanting to experience actual change – treating the cause, not the symptom.”
“The song was written whilst we were on tour with therapy” guitarist Eamon Ewins adds. “Gian heard me playing around with the intro riff at soundcheck in Cardiff, so we took a quick recording of it and booked a studio in Birmingham. We had studio time booked with Blair to record a different song the next day, but DBT took priority, and we thrashed it out right there.”
Soapbox ‘Disgrace’
Filled with emotions of discontent and disgust, Soapbox’s latest offering provides the much anticipated injection of raw energy before they embark on a UK support tour with fellow Glaswegians Gallus and Dead Pony. This month has been packed with exciting announcements for the subversive quartet as they announce trips to Germany and Netherlands in 2025, all whilst being a nominee for Best Rock/ Alternative at this years SAMAs.
Frontman Tom explains the idea behind the new tune, “Disgrace is about not just the rising price of alcohol in social settings, but also about the constant price squeeze on just about every facet of life at the moment. This frustration can often be felt the most when in somewhere like a pub, where we feel we’re being priced out of one of the few gathering spots people have left to take respite from the struggles of the work day.”
Cloth ‘Polaroid’
Glasgow-based twin-sibling duo Cloth (Rachael and Paul Swinton) are today sharing a new single, “Polaroid”, produced by Ali Chant (Perfume Genius, PJ Harvey, Yard Act). It’s the band’s first new music since the release of their acclaimed and Scottish Album Of The Year Award nominated 2023 album for Rock Action, Secret Measure (which received acclaim from CLASH, Pitchfork and The Observer).
Rachael comments on the new single: “We knew that we wanted to push ourselves outside our comfort zone and write a really upbeat, fast track which would feel great to play live. ‘Polaroid’ has such a strong, driving beat and a soaring string arrangement from Owen Pallett. We’ve never had strings on our music before so this was a real first for us. I was a little nervous about the idea because I think adding strings can sometimes go one of two ways – they can sound great or they can overpower the nuance of everything going on underneath. I can still remember hearing Owen’s arrangement for the first time and just turning to Paul with the biggest smile on my face – they absolutely nailed it. ‘Polaroid’ is quite different to anything we’ve done before, but I think it’s one of the most exciting songs we’ve made.”
Paul adds: “Lyrically, the song deals with the gradual loss of a friendship which used to burn very brightly. I think a lot of people can relate to the peculiar and quietly devastating feeling of becoming isolated from a person they once shared so much with. That preoccupation with loss – of friendships, of loved ones, of relationships – is such a universal thing and something I definitely found myself mired in when writing. I can trace it across a lot of the record.”
Linzi Clark ‘The Couch’
Singer/songwriter Linzi Clark transports listeners to an eerie, gothic world of murder and fantasy with her stripped back single ‘The Couch’. Backed by BBC Introducing Scotland, the track received airplay from Phoebe Inglis-Holmes and Stephanie Cheape earlier this week. Driven by a vintage horror aesthetic, the track possesses soulful melodies and striking lyrical storytelling.
Count The Days ‘Above You’
Youthful energetic trio Count The Days present their debut offering in the form of ‘Above You’, an action-packed, fast-paced tune that wastes no time in establishing the lads intent of setting stages alight. Produced by Bruce Rintoul (Twin Atlantic, Fatherson, Vukovi), Count The Days boast inspiration from Green Day and fellow Scottish rock contemporaries Biffy Clyro. Their debut single wasn’t the only form of exciting news this week, the Glaswegian punk rockers headlined The Flying Duck on November 28th with support from Fog Bandits and The Froobz courtesy of Scottish Music Collective.
