At last, Liverpool’s alt-rock hopefuls SPQR returned last month to reveal their debut album is scheduled for 2022 with the release of single ‘Fault Lines’.
Following successful tours with HMLTD, Childcare and METZ, the four-piece have continued to impress whilst the world around them was crippled. Their last EP, No Brain, No Pain’, lead to SPQR receiving tonnes of radio play, as well as sponsorship from Blackstar Amplifications.
‘Fault Lines’, originally planned for their 2019 EP, was recorded during the sessions that made “Low Sun Long Shadows”.
At the time it didn’t fit sonically, so the track got shelved.
Now, operating out of their newly launched self-owned, Studio 27, the band revisited the track to see if it could work.
Speaking of the track, Peter Harrison, songwriter-in-chief said: “Well, It’d been around for a long time and never felt right, but everyone knew there was something there.
“Nothing was happening naturally so I sat down with it and just chipped away until cracks of light began to appear!
“It was a different approach to how I usually make songs but arguably the end result is more rewarding. Sometimes, you gotta dig for that gold!
“The song is about not letting yourself be yourself because yourself is not right in your idea of what a self should be!”
In the same approach and attitude to their own internal work rate, things may have stopped, SPQR are coming out of lockdown with more shows than they went in with.
Choice slots at Liverpool Sound City, Futurama Festival and a run of support tours that are yet to be announced – await the tour de force.
The result is just over four minutes of classic SPQR mixed with the the fresh approach and pop sensibilities developed over the course of the album sessions.
It’s a minuscule nod to the past, but a hefty nudge towards what’s to come. Self-effacing subjects tied in with slight streams of consciousness make the lyrics, whilst the band have frankly never sounded tighter as a unit.
Working with Mark Rankin (Harry Styles, Bloc Party, QOTSA) on the album, has been a steep learning curve for the band.
His guidance, experience and knowledge has proven to be a useful resource which the band have been able to call upon when creating their debut album.
This is a band who are determined to break boundaries of genre, push the fold, and are limited only by their own ambition.
If past releases, and their reaction, are anything to go by, SPQR will break through this year. And if they don’t, they won’t take no for an answer.
Catch SPQR on tour this September:
- 01 – Milton Keynes – Crauford Arms
- 02 – Cambridge – Portland Arms
- 03 – Birmingham – Hare & Hounds
- 09 – Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach
- 10 – Exeter – The Cavern
- 11 – Liverpool – Futurama Festival
- 12 – Hebden Bridge – Trades Club
- 19 – Sheffield – 02 Academy 2
- 30 – Tunbridge Wells – The Forum
Featured image by Liam Powell
