An Irvine
band have revealed the details behind their hotly anticipated sophomore record.
Soldier On
are set to release the follow-up to Eggs for Breakfast on March 1 with a
four-track EP that might raise some eyebrows, says their frontman.
Lead
singer Jordan Bastock said: “I think this EP will really catch a lot of people
out, and people will really start taking us seriously.
“This EP
is riddled with a lot more dimensions. We’ve got elements of brass and keys
littered around and we’re really thick-on with the harmonies – we’re really
going for it.
“We just
want to get as many people’s attention as possible.”
The four
tracks on the EP are No Man’s Land – set to be the first single, Get Up –
written by the band’s guitarist Stephen Hunter, Signs of Life and Bookmaker.
Recorded
in one week at La Chunky studios in Glasgow, Jordan says the band’s studio time
has been a different experience from the last time around.
“It feels
a lot more full-on this time, because we took a bit of a gamble – we haven’t
rehearsed the tracks.
“I spent a
lot of time in the studio improvising parts, coming up with things and changing
the dynamics in the songs so it was a lot more fun.
“For the
first EP we knew what we were doing and we rehearsed it and we’d been playing
that set of songs for six months to a year so we were incredibly tight and we
knew how it was supposed to sound.
“If you
could compare a sound to an aesthetic we wanted that raw sound.
“This time
we wanted to go in and polish it a little bit. We want to maintain the live
element but also be a beautiful piece of art.”
Despite a
different approach to the recording process, Jordan also says the band could
move away from the sound that earned them a mod tag when they first started
out.
“The first
EP was very mod influenced and quite specifically targeted at an audience. But
obviously it’s an art and we write it, not for the pleasure of others, but for
ourselves.
“The stuff
we’re doing just now, you could easily fit into the rock genre.
“It’ll
still have your feet stomping and still be soulful, rugged and rock ‘n’ roll.
“No Man’s
Land and Get Up I think sound like T Rex tunes. It’s a lot more – not
mainstream – but pop.
“Bookmarker
has the potential to be a Northern Soul floor-filler. It has that beat behind
it; it starts off like most Northern Soul songs: the four-bars and the drums
doing a simple four-four on the snare, hi-hat and the kick – just leading you
in and enticing you to shuffle your feet - similar to I Am the Resurrection by
the Stone Roses.
“Signs of
Relief, which is a beautiful piece if I do say so myself, is another ballad
similar to Knots and Crosses but I think this one’s a lot better.
“It’s something
that’s special to me, it’s something that’s important I think it could be
featured in a theatre production because there’s so much depth and meaning; the
trumpet solo and outro and how the dynamics matter, the piano behind the
melodies are just beautiful.”
In the
same month that their forthcoming EP is released the band take to the road for
a six-date UK tour, with half of those dates under the banner of March of the
Mods – UK-wide shows to aid the Teenage Cancer Trust.
The band
take to Liverpool’s Cavern on March 1, Edinburgh’s Voodoo Rooms on March 6 as
part of This Feeling club night, Manchester’s Band on the Wall on March 8,
Blues Kitchen in London on March 12, Perth’s Green Room on March 12 and
finishing on March 14 at Glasgow’s ABC 2. The Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow
dates are all part of the aforementioned March of the Mods.
Soldier On
look set for another busy year but Jordan will be take it all in his stride,
insisting he’s just happy things are back to normal.
“It’s been
a while, our last gig was November we’ve had a lot of time out. I’m looking
forward to the arguments and fighting with the guys. I miss that.”
