Ride has unveiled their new single, “Last Frontier,” which is the second offering from their recently announced seventh studio album, Interplay, out on 29 March on Wichita Recordings / PIAS. The band’s latest song pairs kaleidoscopic layers of sound with classic indie songwriting. While speaking about the track, guitarist and singer Andy Bell says: “This was the runt of the litter of the very first jam session from Mark’s OX4 Studio, and I didn’t even include it on my shortlist of the best tracks. It was our producer, Richie Kennedy, who saw the potential of the song, and we attacked this with a vengeance at Vada studio. A complete revamp of the backing track and arrangement was needed and we took it right back to basics, more towards a pounding Joy Division feel.”
The guitarist adds: “For the topline, I tried improvising at the mic, singing it all different ways, and coming up with new parts on the spot. I felt really exposed but kind of said to myself, ‘you’re among friends, it’s good to push yourself to try new ways to write.’ It feels different to every vocal I’ve ever done. It’s still a new way of working for me but it’s something I want to continue trying as I think it makes for better vocal lines; a good mixture of written and improvised.”
Interplay is Ride’s third album since reforming in 2014, having now been together longer in their current second phase than their original iteration as 90’s shoegaze pioneers. It will follow 2017’s Weather Diaries and 2019’s This Is Not A Safe Place, which re-lit the Ride spark, both pleasing old diehards and introducing one of the most forward-thinking guitar bands of their generation to a whole new audience.
Photo Credit: Ekaterina Gorbacheva
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