Returning indie-soul wonders The Rumble Strips are preparing to release their new, Mark Ronson produced, second album ‘Welcome To The Walkalone’.
The Rumble Strips are one of the most unusual groups working in Britain right now. Blending euphoric songwriting with rasping brass, lead singer Charlie Waller’s voice is as over the top as Freddie Mercury.
Penning odes to his bicycle and even his alarm clock, Waller is a gifted yet unique songwriter. Debut album ‘Girls And Weather’ was released in 2007, attracting some sensational reviews. However the record failed to set charts alight, despite the jaunty radio anthem ‘Girls And Boys In Love’.
Retreating to their rehearsal room, The Rumble Strips received a knock on the door from an unusual visitor. Mark Ronson approached the group to record their next album, and before they knew where they were a jet carrying the band was landing in New York.
ClashMusic caught up with the band recently to talk about recording sessions, and just where they aim to go from here.
Little has been heard of ‘Welcome To The Walkalone’. The group released the track ‘London’ as a free download, and you can watch them performing this and more by clicking HERE!
A recent UK tour saw The Rumble Strips play a clutch of new songs. Continuing the indie-soul vibe of their debut, the new album seems to be much more focussed with the songwriting a leap onwards from ‘Girls And Weather’.
In a statement Charlie Waller claimed he wanted the new album to be more ambitious. “When we started out I liked the ridiculousness of a small group with acoustic instruments defiantly playing as if we sounded like an orchestra we were like a team of arctic explorers in T-shirts and normal shoes joyfully pressing on. But this time, we needed to think bigger.”
The Rumble Strips are set to release their new album ‘Welcome To The Walkalone’ on July 13th. Tracklisting is as follows:
‘Welcome To The Walk Alone’
‘London’
‘Not The Only Person’
‘Daniel’
‘Douglas’
‘Back Bone’
‘Sweet Heart Hooligan’
‘Running On Empty’
‘Dem Girls’
‘Raindrops’
‘Happy Hell’
