(photo credit: Marilena Vlachopoulou 2024)
ARAB STRAP
ANNOUNCE NEW SINGLE ‘STRAWBERRY MOON’
LISTEN HERE + WATCH THE WEREWOLF/PRIEST CAPER VIDEO
NEW ALBUM OUT 10th MAY 2024
+ NEW SCOTTISH, IRISH & NORTHERN IRISH LIVE DATES ALSO ANNOUNCED
Arab Strap release new song “Strawberry Moon”, the second single from their forthcoming album “I’m totally fine with it 👍 don’t give a f**k anymore 👍”. The track – premiered by Huw Stephens on his BBC 6Music drivetime show – sounds like nothing else the band have done before, with Malcolm Middleton’s bass coated in a thick layer of fuzz, backed by driving, twisting electronic drums that owe a debt to Afrobeat and Whitney Houston.
“Lyrically, it’s maybe the most personal song on the album,” says Aidan Moffat, “About a period when I wasn’t doing very well, both mentally and physically. I was walking with a cane and in pain most of the time, and drowning my sorrows too, trapped at home and watching the phases of the moon through a window. The moon always seems to pop up in my lyrics, and the song’s a sort of secular hymn in praise of her constant change. She’s always a comfort, always hopeful, and always makes me smile.”
The song’s video, created with David Arthur – who worked with Moffat previously on the film “Where You’re Meant To Be” – features Middleton and Moffat as werewolf and priest in a chase across the city of Glasgow, and is the first time the duo have fully appeared in a video together in almost 25 years. “Aye, it’s been a while,” says Moffat, “So we thought we should go all out – costumes, make-up, special effects, acting, mobility scooter and all.”
“Strawberry Moon” follows the BBC 6Music playlisted album track “Bliss”, a song that perfectly exemplifies what is their most sonically expansive album to date. The track was accompanied by a video directed by award-winning, Glasgow based director Ains featuring a striking dancer personifying a character trapped in a dystopian realm.
The new album release follows on 10th May 2024 via Rock Action Records and is available to pre-order and pre-save now in various formats, including digital, CD, classic black vinyl LP and, exclusive to independent record stores, “emoji” yellow coloured vinyl.
Almost 28 years after their debut, Arab Strap have never sounded more essential, and this new record is a fierce testament to their laser focus on wider horizons. Written and performed exclusively by Malcolm Middleton and Aidan Moffat, and finessed with longtime collaborator Paul Savage, the album furthers the band’s transformation from swooning, slow-core romantics to raging, alt-pop chroniclers.
“I’m totally fine with it 👍 don’t give a f**k anymore 👍” may sound like the title of an album by a band giving up (it’s just a text from the band’s live drummer that Moffat thought was funny), but in reality it’s an album that stands to clearly define a new creative period for Arab Strap. With the band having recently wrapped up a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 1998 album “Philophobia”, this new album feels charged by a desire to move forward and explore new terrain. “The tour’s been fun, but I’ll be glad it’s over so we can move on,” laughs Middleton, while Moffat echoes him; “The Philophobia gigs have been a way of saying goodbye to the old us,” he says. “It was a very gentle, quiet tour, so I expect this year we’ll just be playing banger after banger – I think we’ve earned the right to make some noise now.”
The band recently announced a series of live shows to follow the album release and are today pleased to announce a series of new shows for autumn 2024 in Scotland, Ireland & Northern Ireland. These new shows go on-sale Thursday 28th March from 10:00am – full list of live dates;
20th May Carlisle, England – The Brickyard
21st May Sunderland, England – Fire Station
22nd May Birmingham, England – Castle & Falcon
23rd May Bristol, England – Lantern
24th May London, England – Koko
25th May Manchester, England – Gorilla
26th May Leeds, England – Brudenell
30th May Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Sound
31st May Basel, Switzerland – Reithalle Kaserne
20th June Castiglione del Lago, Italy – Rocca Medievale
21st June Bologna, Italy – Botanique Bologna
22nd June Milan, Italy – Triennale Milano Teatro
11th Sept Belfast, N.Ireland – Empire
12th Sept Limerick, Ireland – Dolans
13th Sept Galway, Ireland – Roisin Dubh
14th Sept Dublin, Ireland – Whelan’s
16th Sept St Andrews, Scotland – The Byre Theatre
17th Sept Aberdeen, Scotland – Lemon Tree
18th Sept Edinburgh, Scotland – La Belle Angèle
19th Sept Dumfries, Scotland – The Venue
20th Sept Galashiels, Scotland – MAC Arts,
21st Sept Glasgow, Scotland – Barrowland Ballroom
Tickets available via https://www.arabstrap.scot/
Album Tracklisting:
- Allatonceness
- Bliss
- Sociometer Blues
- Hide Your Fires
- Summer Season
- Molehills
- Strawberry Moon
- You’re Not There
- Haven’t You Heard
- Safe & Well
- Dreg Queen
- Turn Off The Light
