In addition to the recent announcement that English garage rockers Babyshambles are gracing our shores for their inaugural Australian performances for Splendour In The Grass later this year, the band are making headlines again, and thankfully it’s not for any of Pete Doherty’s very public, and generally unsavoury social pursuits.
Babyshambles have a third album coming, their first record since 2007’s Shotter’s Nation, and have confirmed that its due for release in Splendour’s wake.
In an interview with PedestrianTV, bassist Drew McConnell said the band were in the midst of mixing the new album in London, saying the new record is due “in early September.”
McConnell also suggested it was the quartet’s most mature composition to date, using the ever-trusty analogy of a teenager “falling down the stairs” to remark on the naivety and inexperience of their debut record, 2005’s Down In Albion.
“I guess the first one sounded like a band falling down the stairs,” the bassist admitted. “[It] was like a teenager being yelled at by his mother to get out of his bed and tries to come down for breakfast, and falls down the stairs on the way there because he’s still half asleep. That’s what the first record was,” McConnell continued. Bassist Drew McConnell said the band were in the midst of mixing the new album in London, saying the new record is due “in early September.”
McConnell described Down In Albion‘s follow-up, the aforementioned Shotter’s Nation, was apparently – in a continuation of the morning adolescent analogy – a little more awake and knowing, but still not entirely refined.
“The second record was, you know, we’re having our breakfast and we’re kind of composing ourselves. We’re having a cup of coffee,” he said.
But it’s their forthcoming third record that, according to McConnell, is like, “we’re walking outside, we’re taking it all in and we’re on our way to work.” Better still, the 34-year old is, “so excited about this record”.
According to NME, the album was originally intended to be frontman Pete Doherty’s second solo release, following Grace/Wastelands, released in 2009. After working closely with Stephen Street, the producer responsible for Shotter’s Nation (as well as Blur’s Modern Life is Rubbish and The Smith’s Strangeways, Here We Come) the sessions transformed into work for Babyshambles’ third album.
Babyshambles’ league of loyal fans have already had a taste of the new material too, when the band recently premiered a new track “Dr No (Sharks In The Water)” in Paris.
Musician, painter, actor and poet, (not to mention convicted prisoner) Doherty formed Babyshambles during a much publicized hiatus from UK band The Libertines in the early 2000s. The side-project went on to become Doherty’s primary concern and win over an army of devoted fans.
Doherty, McConnell, Mick Whitnall (lead guitar, backing vocals) and Jamie Morrison (drums) will touch down on Australian soil in late July, ready to bring their very own brand of rambunctious rock n roll to stages across the country.
Unitedly, the band have played a range of the world’s most notable festivals, including Glastonbury, T in the Park, and Paredes de Coura Festival. Despite these solid performance credentials, Babyshambles also won the Naomi Award (a one-off parody ceremony of the BRIT Awards) for Worst Live Act in 2006. But irrespective of criticisms, it’s likely that after nearly a decade together, Babyshambles will gather crowds and interested ears for their first ever Australian, 5-stop tour come July.
Babyshambles 2013 Australian Tour Dates
Thurs 25 July – Palace Theatre – Melbourne
Fri 26 July – Splendour In The Grass – Byron Bay – SOLD OUT
Sun 28 July – Enmore – Sydney
Mon 29 July – HQ – Adelaide
Wed 31 July – Metro City – Perth
