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TV Priest Release Video For It Was Beautiful

TV Priest share new single ‘It Was Beautiful’, taken from forthcoming album My Other People out 17th June via Sub Pop Records.  Vocalist Charlie Drinkwater says of the single, “‘It Was Beautiful’ is a love song about the past, present, and future. A reminder that love is the most essential thing. The words came fast; it was recorded in a… Read More TV Priest Release Video For It Was Beautiful

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TV Priest share new single ‘It Was Beautiful’, taken from forthcoming album My Other People out 17th June via Sub Pop Records. 

Vocalist Charlie Drinkwater says of the single, “‘It Was Beautiful’ is a love song about the past, present, and future. A reminder that love is the most essential thing. The words came fast; it was recorded in a single emotive session, the first song we wrote together after my family had gone through a difficult experience and I think you can hear that in the kind of melancholy euphoria that plays out as the song progresses. In some ways it’s a coda to the whole album; a reminder to guard your hope fiercely.”

The dizzying single-shot performance visual was directed, produced, and filmed by the band in East London.

Watch/Listen to ‘It Was Beautiful’ HERE

Having made music together since their teenage years, the London four-piece TV Priest piqued press attention in late 2019 with their first gig as a newly solidified group, a raucous outing in the warehouse district of Hackney Wick. Debut single “House of York ” followed with a blistering critique of monarchist patriotism, and they were signed to Sub Pop for their debut album. When Uppers arrived in the height of a global pandemic, it reaped praise from critics and fans alike for its ‘dystopian doublespeak’, but the band — vocalist Charlie Drinkwater, guitarist Alex Sprogis, producer, bass and keys player Nic Bueth and drummer Ed Kelland – were sat at home like the rest of us, drinking cups of tea and marking time via government-sanctioned daily exercise. As such, the personal and professional landmark of its release felt “both colossal and minuscule” dampened by the inability to share it live. “It was a real gratification and really cathartic, but on the other hand, it was really strange, and not great for my mental health” admits Drinkwater. “I wasn’t prepared, and I hadn’t necessarily expected it to reach as many people as it did. It sounds a bit naïve, but it was all very quick. It felt kind of divorced from reality.”

As such, My Other People intentionally maintains a strong sense of earth-rooted emotion, taking full advantage of the opportunity to physically connect. Using “Saintless” (the closing song from Uppers) as something of a starting point, Drinkwater set about crafting lyrics that allowed him to articulate a deeper sense of personal truth, using music as a vessel to communicate with his bandmates about his depleting mental health. “Speaking very candidly, it was written at a time and a place where I was not, I would say, particularly well,” he says. “There was a lot of things that had happened to myself and my family that were quite troubling moments. I apologised to the band the other day for not being a great friend or person in this process, because I simply was not happy. Despite that I do think the record has our most hopeful moments too; a lot of me trying to set myself reminders for living, just everyday sentiments to try and get myself out of the space I was in. Whether or not the sincerity is understood, I think I’ll always be proud of that.”

“It was a bit of a moment for all of us where we realised that we can make something that, to us at least, feels truly beautiful,” agrees Bueth. “Brutality and frustration are only a part of that puzzle, and despite a lot of us feeling quite disconnected at the time, overwhelmingly beautiful things were also still happening.”

To strike this balance, My Other People relies on the band’s tight-knit working method, with Bueth once again at the self-producing helm. Following their own intuition as part of a “feverish” writing process, they looked inwards for inspiration rather than attempting to ape any sonic heroes, ending up with something that feels much more like affirmingly widescreen alt-rock than it does post-punk. Arrangements give room to let the voice roam; the optimistic melodies of “The Breakers” light flares to accompany Drinkwater’s recognition of the path that leads him back to friendship, while the rumbling pace of “Unravelling” reflects his more fractious state, looking for a safe place to land amidst the detritus of biting guitars. Where possible, recordings weren’t agonised over, but rather trusted on their initial takes when the mood had hit right. Though they recognise that ‘ band still searching for sound on second album’ is a sentiment that is often weaponised as criticism, it’s a process of self-improvement that Drinkwater is keen to protect: “Why would I keep making art if I didn’t believe that the best thing was not around the corner?”

Visually speaking, the same intention of momentum carries forth. The album’s artwork, photographed by Edward Thompson, depicts two children looking out to sea, a scene suspended somewhere between melancholy and hope. The video for “One Easy Thing”, the album’s lead single, directed by long term collaborator Joe Wheatley (“Decoration”, “Press Gang”) is a homage to new wave and French cinema, the singer donning full medieval armour as he bleeds and dances, persevering despite the seemingly impossible circumstance. Though Drinkwater wants its message of discomfort to show, he’s also keen not to overexplain it: “Last time, I literally was like, ‘please like me’, to everyone,” he laughs. “I stood next to the record and talked it to death, what things meant or where I did and didn’t stand. This time, I think it’s better if I leave some space.”  

An allowance for the interpretation of others is perhaps most clear on “Bury Me In My Shoes”, built around a stark chorus line; “Life Only Comes In Flashes Of Greatness.” It is a lyric borne out of deep depression, the existential fear of our ever-changing mortal coil.  But if you look at it differently, it could just as easily be read as affirmation, a reminder to seize the moment and make it count. This tension between the fullness of the glass, the cathartic value that such a lyric may hold in different lights, is central to My Other People — a record that heals by providing space for recognition, a ground zero from which you’re welcome to stay awhile but which ultimately — realistically — only leads up and out. For TV Priest, it is a follow-up that feels truly, properly them; free of bravado, unnecessary bluster or any audience pressure to commit solely to their original sound (read more at Sub Pop.com).

TV Priest’s international touring in support of My Other People resumes Friday, June 5th in Brittany, France at Art Rock Festival and now runs through Saturday, November 26th in Cologne, Germany at Artheater. This announcement now includes new shows in the UK (Latitude Festival, Jul. 24th), Italy (Sienna’s TV Spenta Festival, Jul. 24th), Netherlands (Nijmegen, Oct. 24th; Groningen, Oct. 25th; Rotterdam, Oct. 26th; London Calling in Amsterdam, Nov. 26th), France (Paris, Nov. 15th; Le Havre, Nov. 16th; Nantes, Nov. 18th; Lille, Nov. 19th) with additional dates in Belgium (Nov. 20th), Switzerland (Zurich, Nov. 22nd), Germany (Berlin, Nov. 24th)

For up to date information on tickets, please visit TV Priest.com.

Fri. Jun. 05 – Brittany, FR – Art Rock Festival
Sat. Jun. 06 – Tours, FR – Aucard De Tours
Fri. Jun. 17 – London, UK – Rough Trade East
Mon. Jun. 20 – Brighton, UK – Resident*
Tue. Jun. 21 – Southsea Portsmouth, UK – Pie & Vinyl*
Wed. Jun. 22 – Totnes, UK – Drift*
Thu. Jun. 23 – Leeds, UK – The Vinyl Whistle*
Sun. Jul. 03 – Hyeres, FR – Pointu Festival
Fri. Jul. 22 – Suffolk, UK – Latitude Festival
Sun. Jul. 24 – Sienna, IT – TVSpenta Festival
Tue. Jul.26 – Brooklyn, NY – Union Pool
Wed. Jul. 27 – Philadelphia, PA – PhilaMOCA
Fri. Jul. 29 – Montréal, QC – Bar le Ritz PDB
Sat. Jul. 30 – Toronto, ON – Monarch Tavern
Sun. Jul. 31 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen
Thu. Aug. 04 – Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon
Fri. Aug. 05 – Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon
Sat. Aug. 06 – Vancouver, BC – Fox Cabaret
Sun. Aug. 07 – Seattle, WA – Clock-Out Lounge
Fri. Sep. 03 – Salisbury, UK – End of the Road Festival
Fri. Sep. 09 – Heusden, NL – Misty Fields Festival
Sat. Sep. 17 – Leicester, UK – Wide Eyed Festival
Mon. Oct. 24 – Nijmegen, NL – Merleyn
Tue. Oct. 25 – Groningen, NL – Vera
Tue. Oct. 26 – Rotterdam, NL – Rotown
Fri. Oct. 28 – Amsterdam, NL – London Calling Festival
Sun. Oct. 30 – Bristol, UK – The Louisiana
Mon. Oct. 31 – Birmingham, UK – Hare & Hounds
Tue. Nov. 01 – Dublin, IE – The Workman’s Cellar
Thu. Nov. 03 – Manchester, UK – Yes (Pink Room)
Fri. Nov. 04 – Glasgow, UK – Broadcast
Sat. Nov. 05 – Leeds, UK – Belgrave Music Hall
Mon. Nov. 07 – Cambridge, UK  – Portland Arms
Tue. Nov. 08 – Leicester, UK – Firebug Bar
Thu. Nov. 10 – London, UK – Scala
Fri. Nov. 11 – Reading, UK -The Face Bar
Sat. Nov. 12 – Southampton, UK – The Joiners
Sun. Nov. 13 – Brighton, UK – Green Door Store
Tue. Nov. 15 – Paris, FR – TBC
Wed. Nov. 16 – Le Havre, FR – Le Tetris
Fri. Nov. 18 – Nantes, FR – Stereolux
Sat. Nov. 19 – Lille, FR – L’Aeronef 
Sun. Nov. 20 – Brussels, BE – Botanique
Tue. Nov. 22 – Zurich, CH – Bogen F
Thu. Nov. 24 – Berlin, DE – Privatvclub
Fri. Nov. 25 – Cologne, DE – Artheater
* Stripped down performances

Source: thoughtswordsaction.com

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