On September 22, Teenage Fanclub will release their new album Nothing Lasts Forever on Merge Records in the U.S. and on their own label PeMa in the UK/Europe (pre-order). Limited edition silver and black mix Peak Vinyl is available in the Merge Records shop, and Rough Trade U.S. will have translucent pink vinyl for purchase.
Today the band is excited to share “Back to The Light” the latest pre-album single to be released from Nothing Lasts Forever. The track follows lead single “Foreign Land” and album highlight “Tired of Being Alone.”
“Back to the Light” was written by Norman Blake who says, “I liked the idea of using being in a band as a metaphor for a personal relationship. They are not entirely dissimilar experiences. Like a few others on the album, this song has saxophone on it. First time we’ve had that since Songs From Northern Britain. Stephen Black (Sweet Baboo) played those parts; we really like the richness it brings to the song. Steve will be with us when we head out on tour in October in Europe.”
“Back to the Light” starts off with an instrumental that goes on for the first thirty seconds. So far, the song is about a road trip: “The lights come up We clear the stage and break it down We turn the key and motor out of town”. There is an optimism the song shares when being with a partner: “For a while there I was blue But now I’m walking next to you You turned me round and led me back to the light”. Go back to the instrumental for a bit, then back to the lyrics. There is a theme of freedom that the song includes: “Now free to go To where we’re going I don’t know I only know we’re doing it in style”. The song ends with repeating “Lead me back to the light”, establishing the theme of optimism and freedom.