Shvpes (pronounced ‘Shapes’) have released a brand-new single ‘Calloused Hands’ from their forthcoming album, Greater Than.
“This is the first song we wrote together after coming back from our first European tour,” says Shvpes vocalist, Griffin Dickinson. “We’d been out for 6 weeks, experiencing something we’d always dreamed of… As soon as we got back, as with most tours, reality hits and you’re sucked back into the ‘real world’ that pressures you to go and get a ‘real job’ I.e. doing something you probably don’t care about, for some narcissistic company that equally doesn’t care about you. This song was all about reminding myself why I don’t want to be a part of that. With lyrics like “capitalise; cannibalise” & “paralysed by your next fix” it’s exploring the futility of the paper chase.”
Shvpes will release their second studio album, Greater Than, on November 9th via Search and Destroy/ Spinefarm Records. / Caroline Australia. Pre-order here.
Having initially planned to run with three ‘mixtapes’ leading into the full record next year, the band have decided to bring the album forward, following an incredible fan response to first single “Undertones”, issuing it as a single body of work, to support an exciting autumn/winter touring schedule.
Written in Snowdonia, Wales, and recorded at Treehouse Studios in Chesterfield with world renowned producer and Engineer, Jim Pinder (Bullet For My Valentine, Machine Head, While She Sleeps), Greater Than is truly genre-defying; combing hip-hop and metal, plus alternative rock and urban elements, this is heavy music for the adventurous and open-minded.
Says Shvpes vocalist, Griffin, “What we’ve created feels bold, and I’m not worried about people getting pissed off – they can take it or leave it. A lot of people are going to absolutely love it.”
Matt Heafy of Trivium – one of Shvpes’ biggest inspirations – collaborates on the song, “Rain”; but despite this being the most metal track on the album, Matt’s vocals, unpredictably, feature on the rap section…
“That just seemed like the perfect part,” says Griffin, “because we didn’t want to give him a screamy-shouty verse, we wanted to do something a bit different. We put about 10 takes of him on there, so we’ve got this vocal gang monster!”
Since releasing their highly-praised 2016 debut Pain. Joy. Ecstasy. Despair. Shvpes have been riding the wave of acclaim that rapidly attached itself to their name, touring Europe with some of the biggest bands in hard rock (Trivium, Bullet For My Valentine, Blessthefall) and appearing at festivals the world over. But in 2018, with Greater Than the band have truly arrived…
