Fatherson are '˜Making Waves' and heading for Leeds

Scottish trio Fatherson are back on the music scene with a new album and a tour, which will see them appear in Leeds.
Fatherson, gig announced in Leeds.Fatherson, gig announced in Leeds.
Fatherson, gig announced in Leeds.

The tour and gig at Leeds’ Hyde Park Book Club on Thursday, October 4 will follow the release of the band’s third album, ‘Sum Of All Your Parts’, which will drop on September 14.

Early last year Fatherson – comprised of vocalist/guitarist Ross Leighton, bassist Marc Strain and drummer Greg Walkinshaw – found themselves at a turning point. Digging up their roots and decanting to a new studio home in Glasgow, they longed for a change. ‘Sum Of All Your Parts’ (out via Easy Life Records) is the result and their most assured record to date.

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Forming in Kilmarnock, Scotland, in early 2010, Fatherson immediately captured hearts with their raw, honest alt-rock sound. Inspired by Scottish stoicism as much as their own personal turmoil, debut album ‘I Am An Island’ and its 2016 follow-up ‘Open Book’ were masterclasses in full-throttle rock songwriting and garnered support from (and tours alongside) their north-of-the-border brethren in Biffy Clyro, Frightened Rabbit, Idlewild and Twin Atlantic, as well as further runs alongside the likes of Kings Of Leon, Augustines, Enter Shikari and more.

‘Open Book’ jumped straight in at number two in the Scottish album charts as well as performing strongly in the UK.

Other recent highlights include packing a 12,000 person tent at T in the Park

“When you’re away on tour for a long time and you haven’t been back home, there’s a realism in people, especially in Glasgow, that’s very refreshing to come back to,” says Strain of that Scottish connection.

“I think the music encapsulates that quite well.”

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It’s an attitude that Leighton’s songwriting feeds off, too. “There’s an element of not being allowed to be too big for your boots,” he explains. “Your ego will get pummelled out of you as soon as you get home, and that’s good grounding.

“I think this is the first attempt at being a bit more specific, lyrically. I was listening to a lot of Frank Ocean, who’s very specific with his lyrics, even though it’s very ambiguous. You might never know what it actually meant, but you can extrapolate something that’s a bit more personal. It’s less of a generalisation on the whole - it’s like, ‘I feel like this about this, and you can understand it or you can not’.”

Recorded live and in chronological sequence with Claudius Mittendorfer (Arctic Monkeys, Interpol, Weezer), ‘Sum Of All Your Parts’ fizzes with a youthful energy, reinvigorating the group from the get-go.

“A big part of this process was trying to capture that feeling of when you play a song together for the first time, and you look at each other in the face and get that smile that you can’t get rid of,” explains Walkinshaw.

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“We weren’t so concerned about some of the pop sensibilities – it’s a little bit more raw, and a little bit more loose, and a bit more fun, at points.”

Listen to new single new single ‘Making Waves’ here: http://smarturl.it/SumOfAllYourParts

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