Jan 26, 2023
By Mark Redfern
Britpop band The Boo Radleys have announced a new album, Eight, and shared its first single, “Seeker,” via a music video. They have also announced a tour and reissue connected to the 30th anniversary of their 1993 album Giant Steps. Eight is due out June 9 via the band’s own Boostr label. Check out the “Seeker” video below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art, as well as the tour dates.
The fittingly titled Eight is the band’s eighth album and the quick follow-up to 2022’s Keep On With Falling, which was The Boo Radleys’ first studio album in over 23 years.
Vocalist/co-songwriter Sice says in a press release that the songs of Eight were recorded “purposefully to appear together on an album” and that “there is also a greater depth of integration, which means that it’s more difficult to tell which member of the band the song originated with.”
The press releases says “Seeker” is “about leaning on those we trust to share life’s highs and lows.”
Bassist/co-songwriter, Tim Brown adds about the single: “This song started out as a three-chord synth pop tune and mutated into a brassy bop courtesy of trumpeter, Nick Etwell. The electric guitar flourishes were added by Louis Smith before Sice added layers of backing vocals which help drive the song along and bring it to its joyful conclusion.”
Details of the Giant Steps reissue are scarse, beyond that it will be out on vinyl, CD, and digital later this year.
The Boo Radleys’ previously shared Keep On With Falling singles “A Full Syringe and Memories of You,” “I’ve Had Enough I’m Out,” “You and Me,” “Alone Together,” and “Keep On With Falling.” “A Full Syringe and Memories of You” was their first new song in 23 years and was also the title track to a 2021 four-song EP. “A Full Syringe and Memories of You” was one of our Songs of the Week. The EP of the same name also featured the unreleased songs “Life Is Getting Better,” “See It Through,” and “I’ll Put the Bars Around My Heart.”
The current lineup doesn’t feature founding guitarist/songwriter Martin Carr, but original members Sice (aka Simon Rowbottom, guitar/vocals), Tim Brown (bass/guitar/keyboards), and Rob Cieka (drums) all returned.
Prior to their 2022 releases, The Boo Radleys, named after a character in To Kill a Mockingbird, last released music with their underrated final album, 1998’s Kingsize. The band had formed a decade earlier, in 1988, releasing their first album, Ichabod and I, in 1990. The band released the rest of their albums on the iconic Creation Records and found critical success with their third album, 1993’s Giant Steps. Initially they were associated with the shoegaze movement, but fans of Britpop embraced them, in part due to their upbeat single “Wake Up! Boo,” which made it to #9 on the UK singles chart in 1995. Also in 1995 they hit #1 on the UK album charts with their fourth album, Wake Up!. Such mainstream success was a bit short-lived—1996’s C’mon Kids made it to #20 on the UK album charts, but Kingsize only got as high as 62. The band split up in early 1999. Carr went on to release several albums as Bravecaptain.
Eight Tracklist:
01 “Seeker”
02 “The Unconscious”
03 “Hollow”
04 “Skeleton Woman”
05 “Sorrow (I Just Want To Be Free)”
06 “Sometimes I Sleep”
07 “Swift’s Requiem”
08 “The Way I Am”
09 “A Shadow Darker Than The Rest”
10 “Wash Away That Feeling”
11 “When I Find It Hard”
12 “Now That’s What I Call Obscene”
13 “How Was I To Know”
The Boo Radleys UK Tour Dates:
Tue 13 June – Reading, South Street Arts Centre
Wed 14 June – London, The Garage
Thu 15 June – Tunbridge Wells, The Forum
Fri 16 June – Birkenhead, Future Yard
Thu 22 June – Dublin, The Grand Social
Fri 23 June – Belfast, The Limelight
Sun 25 June – Glasgow, Hug and Pint