Ride Today features new single 'Last Frontier', the second installment from their recently announced seventh studio album, Interplay, out March 29 via Wichita Recordings/PIAS.
This week, the Oxford quartet revealed plans for a series of UK and Ireland tour dates, which will see them play 16 cities throughout September 2024, including Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and London's iconic Roundhouse. Before that, they will head to the United States and Canada for 11 dates in May. The complete list of the tour is below. Tickets go on general sale on Friday at 10 a.m. HERE.
The ethereal groove of new single 'Last Frontier' combines kaleidoscopic layers of sound with classic standalone compositions. Speaking about the song, guitarist and singer Andy Bell says: “This was the smallest of the bunch from Mark's OX4 Studio's first jam session and I didn't even include it on my short list of best tracks. It was our producer Richie Kennedy who saw the potential in the song and we hit it hard in the Vada studio. A complete revamp of the backing track and arrangement was needed and we took it back to basics, more towards a punchy Joy Division feel.”
“For the main line, I tried to improvise in front of the microphone, sing it in different ways and create new parts on the spot. I felt very exposed, but I said to myself: 'you're among friends, it's good to push yourself to try new ways of writing.' It feels different than every voice I've ever done. It's still a new way of working for me, but it's something I want to keep trying because I think it improves the vocal lines; a good mix of writing and improvisation.”
Interaction is Ride's third album since they reformed in 2014, having been together longer in their current second phase than in their original incarnation as '90s shoegaze pioneers. It will follow 2017's album. Weather diaries and 2019 This is not a safe place, which reignited Ride's spark, pleasing old fans and introducing one of the most innovative guitar bands of their generation to a whole new audience. Produced by the band with Richie Kennedy and mixed by Claudius Mittendorfer, it connects all the dots of their career, taking the frenetic guitar attacks, hypnotic rhythms and dreamy melodic hooks of their early work and setting them into a more expansive sonic template, inspired by 80s pop gems like Tears For Fears, Talk Talk and early U2.
Thematically, it combines classic Ride lyrical hallmarks, such as escapism, dreams, and the dissatisfaction of modern life, with a sense of resilience and perseverance that comes from imploding, then reforming, and finding a way to your second peak, as Andy explains : “This album has taken a long time to make and has seen the band go through many ups and downs; perhaps the most of any Ride album. But it has seen us come through the process as a band in a good place, feeling able to let go of the past and ready to celebrate the combined musical talents that brought us together in the first place.”
Formed by guitarist and vocalist Andy Bell and Mark Gardener, along with drummer Laurence “Loz” Colbert and bassist Steve Queralt, Ride formed in Oxford in 1988; Four friends rooted in art school aesthetics who combined '60s guitar-pop sensibilities with avalanches of noise and driving rhythms. It was a recalibration of the indie-rock that would come to be defined as 'shoegaze', and with its seminal debut in 1990, Nowhere came a run of critical and commercial success that finally collapsed in 1996, with turmoil within the band prompting them to call it a day.
They reformed in 2014, found a global scene filled with bands indebted to Ride and their peers (Tame Impala, Beach House et al.), and after a successful tour, entered the studio with legendary producer Erol Alkan to create the acclaimed for criticism. Weather diaries and follow up This is not a safe place. Now, in 2024, shoegaze is one of the fastest growing music genres, having captured a new wave of Gen Z fans through TikTok, with artists like DIIV and bdrmm turning millions of views into impressive streaming numbers and Ticketing. A quarter of a century since their original formation and with a new generation discovering their music, Interplay finds Ride reaching new creative heights and stronger than ever.
Ride UK and IRE Tour Dates
Monday 02 September 2024 – United Kingdom – Belfast – LimelightMar
September 3, 2024 – Ireland – Dublin – 3Olympia
Wednesday September 4, 2024 – Ireland – Cork – Cyprus Avenue
Friday 6 September 2024 – United Kingdom – Sheffield – Leadmill
Sat 07 Sep 2024 – United Kingdom – Newcastle – Boilershop
Sun 8 Sep 2024 – United Kingdom – Glasgow – SWG 3 TV Studio
Tuesday September 10, 2024 – United Kingdom – Liverpool – Oven
Thursday 12 September 2024 – United Kingdom – Leeds – Leeds Beckett SU
Friday 13 September 2024 – United Kingdom – Manchester – New Century
Saturday 14 September 2024 – United Kingdom – Bristol – SWX
Monday 16 September 2024 – United Kingdom – Falmouth – Princess Pavilions
Tuesday 17 September 2024 – United Kingdom – Portsmouth – Guildhall
Wednesday 18 September 2024 – United Kingdom – Brighton – Chalk
Friday 20 September 2024 – United Kingdom – London – Roundhouse
Saturday 21 September 2024 – United Kingdom – Wolverhampton – Wulfrun Halls
Sun 22 Sep 2024 – United Kingdom – Cambridge – Junction
North American Ride Tour Dates
Saturday May 11, 2024 – USA – Boston – Big night live
Mon May 13, 2024 – Canada – Montreal – Fairmount
Tuesday May 14, 2024 – Canada – Toronto – Concert Hall
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 – United States – Detroit – Majestic
Thursday, May 16, 2024 – United States – Chicago – Metro
Friday, May 17, 2024 – United States – Minneapolis – Fine Line
Sun May 19, 2024 – United States – Englewood – Gothic Theater
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 – United States – Vancouver – Commodore
Thursday, May 23, 2024 – United States – Portland – Mission Theater
Saturday May 25, 2024 – United States – Seattle – Showbox
Ride – Interplay Tracklist:
peace sign
last frontier
Light in a quiet room
Monaco
I came to see the shipwreck
Stay Free
Last night I came somewhere to dream
Dawn Hunter
midnight traveler
Portland Rocks
Essaouira
Yesterday is just a song
Listen to Ride's Laurence 'Loz' Colbert and Steve Queralt talk about their new album 'Interplay', here.
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