Having been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2007 with their debut ‘Hats Off To The Buskers’ and then followed that up with their critically-acclaimed sophomore album ‘Which Bitch?’ in 2009, The View will release their third album ‘Bread And Circuses’ on Monday 14th March.
Featuring the free download ‘Sunday,’ complete with a synth/drum machine opening that was made available in November to coincide with the band’s sold out UK tour as well as first single proper ‘Grace,’ a raucous and anthemic tour-du-force that is sure to soundtrack the summer ahead, ‘Bread And Circuses’ sees The View back to their most gripping and exuberant best.
Overseen by producer Youth (The Verve’s ‘Urban Hymns’) – the first two albums having been produced by Owen Morris - this album saw The View decamp to London’s Britannia Studios for the first time with a whole batch of songs ready to go. “Youth had us recording strictly 11am-11pm,” says vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Kyle Falconer. “With Owen [Morris] we created the album in the studio. This time we went in with 30 tracks to work with. We’ve also got an addition to our band in Darren Rennie who’s a childhood friend of ours. He plays keyboards and sings which has enabled us to work with 5 part harmonies on the record. We’ve dreamt of being able to do that.” This is none more evident than on ‘Blondie,’ a thrilling, jaunty, Fleetwood Mac-esque whirl or the final track ‘Best Lasts Forever’ that, as well as including a spoken word intro from the 60s activist, poet and ex-MC5 manager John Sinclair, also finds the band harnessing those vocal harmonies and bringing them to the fore.
It’s not only the addition of a keyboardist to the ranks and vocal harmonies that have changed for The View on this record. With a new producer came new guidelines to the recording process that had previously been absent. Says Kyle: “Youth picked us up on the articulation in the lyrics which beforehand - when we sounded more punky - we didn’t care about. People complained they couldn’t understand us on the second album and so he kept us on our toes with the pronunciation.”
The band are set to play a number of intimate UK shows to showcase the new material and will play the following:
Tuesday 25th January – Glasgow King Tuts
Wednesday 26th January – Glasgow King Tuts
Thursday 27th January – Swansea Sin City
Tuesday 1st February – London Old Blue Last
Wednesday 2nd February – London Old Blue Last
The tracklisting for ‘Bread And Circuses’ is:
Grace
Underneath The Lights
Tragic Magic
Girl
Life
Friend
Beautiful
Blondie
Sunday
Walls
Happy
The Best Lasts Forever
The View are:
Kyle Falconer (Vocals/Guitars)
Kieren Webster (Bass)
Pete Reilly (Lead Guitarist)
Steven Morrison (Drums)
Darren Rennie (Keyboards)
