Track Premiere: Oh Well, Goodbye – Clandestine
Take a first listen to Clandestine by Oh Well, Goodbye, and read their track-by-track guide to new EP Swoon
Comprising longstanding members of Liverpool's over-active music scene, Oh Well, Goodbye unveil a brand new track from their forthcoming EP Swoon. A murkily addictive assemblage of post-punk sounds and grittily absorbing textures, Clandestine contains all the best elements of their chosen genre (Joy Division, 4AD Records, Exploded View) while retaining a curiously insistent identity of its own – and you can check it out right here!
Clandestine is taken from the band's forthcoming EP Swoon, soon to be available via California DIY stable Bleeding Gold Records. Here, OWG founder and frontman Philip Rourke gives us the lowdown on each of the tracks from the EP ahead of its September release:
Clandestine
"This song pretty much sets the tone for Swoon. Musically it's a very upbeat collection of tracks – quite dancey in parts, but lyrically it has this resigned, shrug-of-the-shoulders feel, so this track introduces the EP nicely. Pete, our guitar player, told me playing the intro is like torture 'cos it's so repetitive; he has to really concentrate!"
This City To Yours
"I basically wanted to write a gloomy dance song, but using a standard 'rock band' set-up. I told some people the lyrics were basically about my drunken theory that Van Gogh was not the artist we think he is (and I actually love Van Gogh) – basically it was his lover who was the great painter, and in the end she ran away from it all. Ridiculous, and of course the song isn't about that, but let's just say it is!"
Axe The Bay
"Axe The Bay is what I called a town in France (Aix Les Bains) as a stupid unfunny joke because I couldn't pronounce the actual name. We stayed there when we played a few shows in France last year. It was such a beautiful, scenic place and I felt so far from home there. I wrote the lyrics and did all the music, and Sammy from [Lyon-based trio] Os Drongos did the French spoken word part and added some distorted noises. I think it's come out really cool; I'd love to play it live one day."
Vessels
"I wanted this to be a romantic song, but not in a sappy way. It's about longing for someone and then actually having that moment you've craved: panic, elation and ultimately the reconciliation of past torn feelings. The song itself has this huge ending, but the main verse is just a simple grunge riff with a dreamy hook, and a virtually spoken word part on it. It might have a hint of romance but my first concert was Pantera – I'll never write a ballad. The perfect closing song in my opinion, and we've been ending the live show with it."
Swoon is released on 16 Sep via Bleeding Gold Records
Catch Oh Well, Goodbye live: Maguire's Pizza Bar, Liverpool (w/ Songs For Walter, Echo Beach and The AV Society), 16 Sep; Eagle Inn, Salford (w/ Songs For Walter & Lawrence Arabia), 17 Sep