Birmingham dream-pop four-piece and indie stalwarts – JAWS – have announced a new EP ‘If It Wasn’t For My Friends, Things Could Be Different’ (out 15 September).
The band have also unveiled the EP’s lead track, “Are My Friends Alright?”, and have announced a UK tour for Autumn 2023.
Marking the break of a new dawn for the foursome, “Are My Friends Alright?” sees JAWS fuse fresh, feel-good guitar melodies with fuzzier moments of introspection that grapple with the gratitude and guilt that comes along with close-knit friendships. As vocalist Connor Schofield explains:
“I think I wrote this song just before Christmas. In the second half of last year I came out of a long-term relationship and this was kind of a response to everyone that looked out for me during that time, as well as me realising that I had to be there for my friends more than I had been. It’s just a general reminder that we’d all be f***ed without our friends, so we need to check in on them.”
Embracing evolution with a fervor, the new track takes a slightly more DIY approach than the band are used to. Cultivating a blissed-out blend of dazey dream-pop edged with a luminous twist that feels both as familiar as an old friend, yet refreshingly new, Schofield adds:
“The whole process of making this single and the EP has been totally different to anything we’ve done before in that itself-produced. I’m lucky enough to have a room at 123 Studios in Peckham, which led to producer Brett Shaw helping us out to get a great drum sound before I finished the record off in my own space. It was a challenge, but we’re super proud of what we’ve been able to create.”
Arriving as the first bit of new music from JAWS in over four years, “Are My Friends Alright?” arrives as the lead single to be taken from the band’s forthcoming EP ‘If It Wasn’t For My Friends, Things Could Be Different’. Self-produced by vocalist Conor Schofield in collaboration with Brett Shaw (Foals, Florence and the Machine) , the extended release was mixed and mastered by Grammy-nominees Mikko Gordon and Robin Schmidt respectively. Set to land on 15 September, JAWS explain of the new EP:
“Since our last tour — where we all caught Covid and ended up isolating for Christmas! — JAWS have been working on a lot of new music. Choosing to go a bit more DIY than previously and putting Connor’s lockdown MA in Commercial Music Production to good use, this project is entirely self-produced and afforded us the opportunity to really capture our sound.”
To mark the release of ‘If It Wasn’t For My Friends…’, the band will be heading out on a seven-date UK tour this Autumn, kicking off in Newcastle on 25 September. Dates below:
JAWS UK TOUR 2023
SEPTEMBER
25 NEWCASTLE The Cluny
26 GLASGOW King Tuts
27 MANCHESTER Club Academy
29 LONDON The Garage
30 BIRMINGHAM The Crossing
OCTOBER
02 LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
03 BRISTOL Thekla
Dream-pop foursome JAWS first formed in Birmingham in 2012, after vocalist Connor Schofield rallied together a handful of his friends from college and gained traction with a demo he’d posted online. Having since released two EPs and three albums including their 2014 debut ‘Be Slowly’ and 2016’s ‘Simplicity’, the band’s forthcoming EP will be their first extended offering since self-released LP ‘The Ceiling’ in 2019.
Best known for their sunny and subversive take on indie-rock, JAWS have previously supported the likes of The Twang, Peace and Spector, and are set to appear as special guests to Swim Deep at their 10th anniversary shows in Birmingham and London this month. Praised by The Guardian for creating “a rising tumult of lovely lacerating melodies and noise over a rock beat you can dance to”, the band have attracted praise from the likes of NME, DIY, Gigwise, Dork, The Line of Best Fit, Far Out Magazine, The Independent, Clash and more.
With “Are My Friends Alright?” arriving as a spiralling statement of intent from a band who, more than a decade on, are continuing to evolve with a fresh sense of vigor, catch JAWS hitting the road across the UK this September/October.
-Official bio
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