Ride today reveal details of their first album in over twenty years, ‘Weather Diaries’ to be released on June 16th via Wichita Recordings. Produced by legendary DJ, producer and remixer Erol Alkan, ‘Weather Diaries’ is packed with all the classic elements that made Ride one of the defining bands of the early ‘90s. Trembling distortion, beautiful harmonies, pounding rhythms, shimmering soundscapes and great songwriting all combine to make an album that’s ambitious in scope, timeless and thoroughly addictive. The album will be released through Wichita Recordings and sees the band reunited with label co-founders Mark Bowen and Dick Green, who worked with Ride during the band’s early years on Creation Records. It also brings the band back together with mixer Alan Moulder (Arctic Monkeys, Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers) who mixed their seminal 1990 album ‘Nowhere’ and produced it’s follow up ‘Going Blank Again’.
Ride have today also unveiled the video for the album’s lead single ‘Charm Assault’. The video’s visceral palette is the perfect accompaniment to the swirling psychedelic rhythms of the song, which was unveiled in February to a flurry of acclaim from media and fans alike. Marrying the psychedelic muscle of Tame Impala’s “Elephant” with the rhythmic twists and turns of My Bloody Valentine’s “Feed me with your kiss”, Bell and Gardeners’ harmonies evoke The Who playing “A Quick One” at the Rolling Stones "Rock and roll circus". The lyrics see Ride railing at the “focused, raw, reptilian ambition” of certain unspecified people in power, who "set fire to your world, and let it burn”. The song effortlessly flits from section to section, taking in influences ranging from Sonic Youth’s dungeon circa “Death Valley '69” through to a jarring, repetitive chord sequence reminiscent of David Bowie’s “Chant of the ever circling Skeletal Family” - one of the songs Bowie wrote for a musical based on Orwell’s “1984”.
The second taster from the new album revealed last month was ‘Home Is A Feeling’, a widescreen, sonically, layered, slowed motion warm wash hinting at the breadth and ambition of the new material on ‘Weather Diaries’. From the huge sonic storm at the end of the eponymous title track 'Weather Diaries' to the addictive verses of 'Cali’, the material is as unmistakably Ride as ever, yet written from the vantage point of men who have experienced life's trials and tribulations. There's an anger at society that comes out in the sprawling opening track 'Lannoy Point' and in 'All I Want', the latter exploring the idea of Britain aping 1930s Germany over cascading drums and multi-layered vocals.
The revitalised four piece - comprising of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence Colbert, and Steve Queralt - reformed and returned to the live scene in 2014, selling out headline tours around the world to a plethora of critical acclaim, as well as show stopping turns at festivals including Coachella, Primavera and Field Day. Touring the States with East Coast shoegazers Diiv proved there there was a new audience ready to appreciate Ride almost as a new band. More than that though, the British music sphere especially has been littered with bands heavily indebted to Ride and their peers. The likes of The Horrors, School Of Seven Bells and labels such as Sonic Cathedral have ensured that shoegaze is a sound that's eternally relevant. The band will be playing the opening night of the BBC 6music Festival in Glasgow on 24th March. Ride also play the following live shows:
11 July Manchester International Festival
13 Jul - 16 July Festival Internacional de Benicàssim
‘Weather Diaries’ Tracklisting:
1. Lannoy Point
2. Charm Assault
3. All I Want
4. Home Is A Feeling
5. Weather Diaries
6. Rocket Silver Symphony
7. Lateral Alice
8. Cali
9. Integration Tape
10. Impermanence
11. White Sands
Tickets and information: http://www.ridemusic.net
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