By Joseph Morrison, Third Year Philosophy and Theology
We sat down with The Sherlocks; the four-piece indie-rock band set for a headline UK tour of their upcoming third album: World I Understand.
Since the release of their debut album Live for the Moment, The Sherlocks have been consistently releasing music and touring the country. Despite a change in the line-up with Josh and Andy Davidson leaving, the new band members Alex Procter and Trent Jackson have come in and picked up from where the brothers started. ‘If anybody’s heard the singles, I think you can expect more of the same really’ frontman Kiaran Crook stated. ‘It’s definitely an upbeat record with a diverse collection of tunes. I think we’ve nailed it this time. I think we’ve done a really good job of making it how we wanted to make it’.
Despite the multiple delays brought about by COVID, the Yorkshire-based band seem to feel that they have perfected the sound of their album and felt no need to tweak it despite the multiple pushbacks. ‘We’ve been sat on this album for over a year and even now I wouldn’t change anything about it’.
Upon listening to the new singles, it is clear to see that the sound is a move back to one reminiscent of their first album. Festival favourites from Live for the Moment such as the title track, ‘Will You be There’ and, of course, ‘Chasing Shadows’ are fast tempo, sing-along, and quite frankly, massive tunes. It is clear to see that tracks such as ‘Falling’ (which featured in our top 100 tracks of 2021), ‘City Lights’ and ‘World I Understand’ will be no different for festival-goers in the summer of 2022.
‘When we were recording this album, we just wanted to try and capture a bit more of that energy that we had for the first album. We want to capture that original sound and then just try and beef it up a bit. We made the first album when we were 19 and we all change as musicians and as people so you’re never going to be able to make the same album; we just wanted a new album that sounds fresh and every song is a banger in its own right’.
Whilst excelling in this department, The Sherlock’s latest single titled ‘Games You Play’ is a lot more intimate and slower-paced. Kiaran explained that, within this track and the wider album, they have tried to experiment with bits here and there. This includes the lead guitarist Alex Procter playing Slide Guitar within the track; something he had not done prior to the album.
The main difference is put down to the song being written before the first album was released. It is very evident that, whilst using experimental elements, it is still very raw. Kiaran states ‘We believe that if you do include older material, you should keep all of the lyrics the same and not change too much of it and we’ve done just that with this one just to act as a little throwback.’. Whilst it may not have the familiar feel of a Sherlocks song, it is a much welcome differentiation from their usual material.
Like many bands in the UK, The Sherlocks started from the humble beginnings of touring the smaller venues that exist up and down this country. Often with very tight budgets, these venues heavily rely on consistent live music to keep revenue up. With Bristol being home to many of these venues, such as The Louisiana and The Crofters Rights, it is important to make sure that these venues have consistent support provided such as when the band toured intimate venues in the Autumn. ‘That’s the main reason why we went on that tour. We wanted to make people aware that these venues are in a worse state than you probably think they are’ Kiaran explained. ‘These venues close and upcoming bands have nowhere to play. We had these venues available to us when we were a new band and, for the first couple of tours, we always had those venues to go and play to people’.
Also, in the Autumn, The Sherlocks announced a new partnership with football club Sheffield Wednesday. ‘They wanted to get involved more in the indie rock scene within Sheffield’ drummer Brandon Crook explained. ‘I’ve been a Wednesday fan since I was 13 or 14. It’s like a dream really. I never thought we would do the kit launch. It’s great how the fans have got behind us and it seems like a good little partnership. Hopefully, we can carry on doing it for years to come’. Brandon later went on to comment on just how great the partnership has been for them. ‘Every time I’m at a match now, they’re using our tunes and they’ve got posters of us all the way around the ground. They’re really behind us’.
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World I Understand is set to release on January 21st with the band starting their UK Tour just two weeks later. It seems as if the boys from Yorkshire have got full confidence in this album and, if the singles are anything to go buy, this confidence is justified. In this album, the Sherlocks have not only identified a good sound but, more importantly, have identified their sound. Much more like the first album, these lads are also going to bring the energy from their debut record too.
So, if you can’t make their gig at the Marble Factory on Thursday March 3rd, I would highly recommend you try and see The Sherlocks at some point over the summer. We can expect a huge year for the band and with the catalogue of bangers that the band will now have at their disposal, you won’t want to miss this.
Featured image: Sonic PR
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