If there’s one thing, outside of the music of course, that I greatly appreciate about the top few bands in today’s post-punk/post-Brexit new wave scene; it’s the massive rush to make and put out new music. Black Country, New Road released For The First Time and Ants From Up There in less than a year, now Black Midi are giving it their best go by releasing their 3rd LP Hellfire on July 15th, slightly more than a year after their last release Cavalcade. To celebrate the album’s announcement the band have also shared with us jaunty new single, ‘Welcome To Hell’ listen below.
According to a press release, the central theme of the album is that of “a shell shocked soldier’s excess and military discharge,” then moving on to say, “if ‘Cavalcade’ was a drama, ‘Hellfire’ is like an epic action film [that] delves into overlapping themes of pain, loss and anguish.” The band are leaning quite heavily into the concept album approach this time round, each of the songs is written in the 3rd person and “tell the tales of morally suspect characters. There are direct dramatic monologues, flamboyantly appealing to our degraded sense of right and wrong. You’re never quite sure whether to laugh at or be horrified.”
The band’s lead, Geordie Greep, went on to explain “Almost everyone depicted is a kind of scumbag,” Greep continues. “Almost everything I write is from a true thing, something I experienced and exaggerated and wrote down. I don’t believe in Hell, but all that old world folly is great for songs, I’ve always loved movies and anything else with a depiction of Hell. Dante’s Inferno. When Homer goes to Hell in The Simpsons. There’s a robot Hell in Futurama. Isaac Bashevis Singer, a Jewish writer who portrays a Satan interfering in people’s lives. There’s loads!”. With this statement and the hype behind the lead single, it’s clear to see that the band are sticking with their signature brand of post-punk maximalism. You can look into pre-order options here.
‘Hellfire’ our Third Album for @roughtraderecords is out July 15 – Produced by Marta Salogni, Co-Produced by Max ‘Sizzle’ Goulding and Engineered by Dani Bennett Spragg. Artwork by David Rudnick, Emiel Penninckx and Maharani Yasmine Putri.
Preorder here: https://t.co/Ny3e4EbNs2 pic.twitter.com/NOZmPcNoLK— black midi (@bmblackmidi) May 9, 2022
The announcement also came with an update to the band’s world tour, but none of the dates actually landed in the UK. So for the time being you’ll have to make do with their only UK date at the moment. Featuring alongside John Legend, Squid, Arlo Parks and many others at Somerset House’s Summer Series in London. The 10-day festival will see each night headlined by some of the biggest names in music at the moment, all within the historic walls of Somerset House. Tickets can be found here.
