Having already hoisted their flag into the UK Top 10 with their previous album ‘See Through Blue’, South Wales’ Scarlet Rebels are poised to fire Welsh rock back into the mainstream spotlight with their new album ‘Where The Colours Meet’, announced today.
Accompanying this hotly anticipated announcement (which was stoked further with frontman Wayne Doyle’s recent feature and live set on Times Radio’s Friday night show with Ed Vaizey) comes the new single “Secret Drug”. An anthemic stomper that pays dues to Stereophonics, The Cult and AC/DC, “Secret Drug” pairs classic Angus Young-style guitar swagger with an arena-sized chorus. There’s a new, widescreen ambition at play here, ably supported by the crack production team of Colin Richardson and Chris Clancy in the studio.
Doyle comments: “We’re incredibly excited to show the world what we’ve been up to. “Secret Drug” is the first chapter from our new story and we’re so happy that we can finally unleash it on the world. It marks a new era for the band, defined by a feeling of bold new confidence that we have to thank our fans for since the release of our previous album ‘See Through Blue’. The positivity that they bring to our world shines bright on ‘Where The Colours Meet.”
“With ‘Where The Colours Meet’, we made an album of unity, a call for togetherness in a world gone mad. Our last album was deliberately polarising – I don’t regret that, and it was amazing to see everyone who did choose to stand with us as we spoke the truth about the wicked forces working in our world. But this time around, we made an album that will bring people together,” Doyle continues.
“I genuinely feel it’s the best set of songs we’ve written. The band’s performance is superb and Colin [Richardson] and Chris [Clancy] brought totally new ideas and focus to our music. We hope you enjoy this album as much as we enjoyed making it.”
The new video was shot with Shaun Hodson of Loki Films (Kris Barras Band, Those Damn Crows).
‘Where The Colours Meet’ sees the band radically expand their sonic palette, bringing in lush instrumentation, piano, keyboards and large drum sounds to channel the best of 80s rock. It’s an album full of fluid guitar lines, tasteful leads and irresistible choruses but with a contemporary full-on sound – a modern-day U2-meets-Bruce Springsteen.
“The album is an ode to the influences who made us the musicians we are today (Springsteen, Petty and Stereophonics, we’re looking at you), as well as the experiences who made us the people we are today,” Doyle adds.
The album also welcomes collaborations with multi-award-winning blues artist Elles Bailey, who brings her velvety vocals to the co-written “Out Of Time”, and Ricky Warwick (Black Star Riders, The Almighty), who lends his song writing prowess to the high-octane stomper and album closer, “My House My Rules”. Diehards will spot that two songs from Scarlet Rebels’ live sets come to life too, as “Let Me In” and “Practice Run”, which have been fixtures at their concerts, are now heard on a proper studio recording for the first time.
Having made a name for themselves collecting items for food banks at their live shows, Scarlet Rebels are giving charity shops first access to their new music. Eagle-eyed fans will see the vivid ‘Where The Colours Meet’ vinyl sleeves begin to appear in their local charity shops from today, offering fans a sneak peek at their new music in return for donations to local charities such as Nottingham’s Emmanuel House. 100 preview copies will be distributed to charity shops across the UK.
‘Where The Colours Meet’ is out on 16th August 2024 and is available to pre-order on limited edition vinyl, signed CD, collector’s bundles and more at earache.com/scarletrebels
Pre-order Album – https://earache.lnk.to/WhereTheColoursMeet
Secret Drug is out now on all digital platforms – https://earache.lnk.to/SecretDrug