Playing at Chalk during a run of dates to support their latest material, the duo may have made a career out of feeling like outsiders, but here in their hometown they’re anything but! Don’t miss this special show June 15th and a chance to see their new material live!
Laura May Carter and Steven Ansell are hitting the road hot on the heels of their latest release, a haunting new piano version of “Morbid Fascination”, from their sixth album ‘Ghosts on Tape’, released earlier this year on Velveteen Records.
Visceral vocals and floaty keys totally re-shape their alt-rock track into an emotive ballad – it’s unexpected, and it’s genius. It’s the mark of of a band who’ve matured – who’ve worked themselves out and settled into it, leant into it, even. As Steven describes: “We’ve always been outsiders right from the very beginning… We have made an entire career out of being told what we are ‘not’, of being rejected, of not fitting in, and this album is us deliberately pushing into all of our strangeness, emphasising all of the things that make us different”.
“We’ve always been outsiders, right from the very beginning…”
Well, they’re certainly not outsiders here in their hometown, where their show is just one of a run of dates that will also see them stop off in Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Glasgow, London and Birmingham. The tour will celebrate their new material from ‘Ghosts on Tape’, which shows off a huge leap forwards for the band, with their sound evolving almost beyond recognition – they’re at their most musically and emotionally mature.
The complex, innovative and gothic-tinged new material in their new album brings to life a dark and unsettling world, it lifts the veil on an obsession with true crime and murder podcasts, with many of the songs sung in character, exploring the dark psyche of those operating at the furthest recesses of outsider-dom: serial killers. It also breathes life into a level of confidence and self-assurance that can only exist for a band who’ve spent their entire adult lives creating music together.
After an hiatus spent living on opposite sides of the Atlantic, world events saw the twosome reunite to embark upon what has become the most fruitful era of their 17 years together. Laura-Mary started a podcast, “Never Meet Your Idols”, with her best friend in LA, interviewing everyone from Zack Snyder to Mark Lanegan to CHVRCHES. It is now about to start its third season. Steven had started exercising his love for electronic music by writing and producing other alternative artists like Circe, ARXX, Aiko and XCerts, racking up millions of streams in the process.
Now they’re garnering support from fans and industry alike for their latest work, which showcases the duo at their most bold, and unified – they know exactly who they are; even if the rest of the world doesn’t get it, and they’re enjoying exploring the new avenues this opens up for their creativity. As Steven explained: “It’s us saying, this is our world, these are our darkest thoughts and feelings – our ghosts – caught on tape. You are welcome to join us. Come and embrace the strange”.
Speaking of other avenues for their creativity, following on from the release of the album the band also shared a short (15-minute) film of the same name, sound-tracked by songs from the album. Premiered to a packed audience at London’s Everyman Cinema, the film was written and directed by Craig Murray and unfolds as a brooding and psychological horror story, featuring the band and their future ghosts, and a blue-hooded death cult reminiscent of Eyes Wide Shut. Check it out at here, and don’t forget to get tickets for their show, also linked below.
Get Tickets For The Show
See them live at Chalk June 15th!
Follow The Band
Keep in touch to hear about shows & releases: Bloodredshoes.co.uk
