After their sophomore LP, Every Bad took the world by storm in 2020, only to have their shining moment taken away once restrictions were put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, Brighton based indie rock outfit Porridge Radio have announced their follow up; Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky. Set to arrive March 20th, the quartet has also given us our first taste of the album in the form of a new single “Back to the Radio”. See the accompanying music video, with visuals shot by frontperson Dana Margolin’s sister Ella, below.
Margolin also announced in a statement that, “Back to the Radio’ feels like a huge introductory hello or a big ceremonial goodbye,” adding, “I wrote it at the end of 2019 when we were gearing up for the release of Every Bad and I felt like a lot of things were coming that I wasn’t sure I knew how to handle. The song grew out of a feeling of intense loneliness and being unprepared for what everybody was promising me was about to happen—and a strong desire to escape without knowing what I wanted to escape to. To me, there’s a huge feeling of catharsis in this song, of letting go and letting it sweep you away.”
The new album, co-produced by Tom Carmichael, Margolin, and the band’s drummer Sam Yardley, was remarked by Margolin as trying to “be ‘stadium-epic’—like Coldplay.” While it’s obviously impossible to feel the vibe of an album from its tracklist, songs like ‘U Can Be Happy If U Want To’ and ‘I Hope She’s OK 2’ just scream a more Olivia Rodrigo slant. I guess we’ll wait and see. You can see any pre-order details for the new album (including limited-edition signed records) here, and the confirmed tracklist below.
Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky:
1 Back to the Radio
2 Trying
3 Birthday Party
4 End of Last Year
5 Rotten
6 U Can Be Happy If U Want To
7 Flowers
8 Jealousy
9 I Hope She’s OK 2
10 Splintered
11 The Rip
12 Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky
Porridge Radio is also embarking on a lengthy tour in support of the album. With dates across Europe this month, the band will also hit some UK venues as early May in an appearance at London’s Rough Trade East, the UK leg of the tour will then conclude back in London at the O2 Shephards Bush Empire in November. See full tour information here.
Porridge Radio UK tour:
24/5/22 – Rough Trade East – London
25/5 – Resident Music – Brighton
20/10 – The Foundry – Sheffield
21/10 – The 1865 – Southampton
24/10 – Metronome – Nottingham
25/10 – Trinity Centre – Bristol
26/10 – J1 – Cambridge
28/10 – St Luke’s – Glasgow
29/10 – Manchester Academy 2 – Manchester
30/10 – Leeds Irish Centre – Leeds
1/11 – Tom The Old Market – Hove
2/11 – Tom The Old Market – Hove
3/11 – O2 Shephards Bush Empire – London
