The return of ARAB STRAP! First album in 16 years ‘AS DAYS GET DARK’ will be released in March + duo announce full UK & Irish tour for September 2021

(c) Kat Gollack 2020

ARAB STRAP

ANNOUNCE THEIR FIRST ALBUM IN 16 YEARS

‘AS DAYS GET DARK’ SET FOR RELEASE 5th MARCH 2021 (ON ROCK ACTION)

CONFIRM SEPTEMBER 2021 UK & IRISH TOUR

TICKETS GO ON-SALE 27th NOVEMBER VIA https://www.arabstrap.scot/

 LISTEN TO THE NEW SINGLE “COMPERSION PT.1”

“It’s about hopelessness and darkness,” says Aidan Moffat. “But in a fun way.” The Arab Strap frontman is speaking about the band’s seventh studio album ‘As Days Get Dark’, and their first since 2005’s ‘The Last Romance.’

Despite them being a pinnacle group of the era, Moffat makes it clear that the aim is not to “recapture the 90s,” but instead to create a distinctly new album, with new tools, sounds and a forward moving sense of exploration. “This album feels like its own new thing to me,” he says. “It’s definitely Arab Strap, but an older and wiser one, and quite probably a better one.”

Across the eleven tracks, the band have tapped into their core sonic foundations and what made so many people fall for them, but also stretched it out into new terrain. The deft mix of post-rock soundscapes, subtle electronics, clicking drum beats, swelling strings and Moffat’s incomparable half-sung, half-spoken vocals are all present, but so too is a variety of new additions – from blasts of woozy saxophone to disco grooves and a rich immersive production that plunges you deep into the stories.

“We’ve had enough distance from our earlier work to reappraise and dissect the good and bad elements of what we did,” says Malcolm Middleton. “Not many bands get to do this, so it’s great to split up.”

Whilst Moffat jokingly says, “We’re still doing what we always do: Malcolm gives me some guitar parts then I’ll f*ck about with them and put some drum machines and words over the top”.

The band reconnected with producer Paul Savage, with just the three of them in the studio, as it was the very first time around. “Paul brings comfort and trust,” says Middleton, “And a sense of continuity.”

Savage’s light touch approach, combined with the band’s evolved craft, has created a potent production that brings out the best in the duo. “I’ve never been interested in making slick records,” says Moffat. “But the new stuff sounds much fuller, brighter and better because we actually know what we’re doing. I think for a long time we didn’t know how to express what we wanted in a studio.”

‘As Days Gets Dark’ is record that manages to feel like both evolution and revolution: a continuation of what has come before but also a bold leap into the future and, as Middleton concludes, “There’s no point getting back together to release mediocrity.” 

Pre-order the album via http://hyperurl.co/AsDaysGetDark

Arab Strap – ‘As Days Get Dark’ album packshot © Rock Action 2020

Arab Strap – ‘As Days Get Dark’ album tracklisting:

  1. The Turning of Our Bones
    2. Another Clockwork Day
    3. Compersion Pt. 1
    4. Bluebird
    5. Kebabylon
    6. Tears On Tour
    7. Here Comes Comus!
    8. Fable of the Urban Fox
    9. I Was Once a Weak Man
    10. Sleeper
    11. Just Enough

 

September 2021 – UK & Irish Tour Dates:

4th        Manchester Academy 2
5th        Dublin Vicar St.
6th        Birmingham The Mill
7th        Bristol SWX
8th        London Electric Ballroom
9th        Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Boiler Shop
10th      Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom

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