Hull’s LIFE continue their rapid upward trajectory with the announcement of their new single Switching On. Focusing on a more exploratory sound, Switching On sees LIFE incorporate future-facing elements of electronic instrumentation with more experimental and brooding guitar/bass work, whilst reflective lyrics look back over the band’s journey together and what is yet to come.
The single is also accompanied by a new video, which has been directed and produced by the band with the help of local filmmaker Josh Moore (who has also collaborated with the band on all of their recent videos). The video channels Wes Anderson-esque colour palettes and symmetrical shots, combining frenetic lighting with dating style video monologues from houseplants trying to find love. Watch the video clip via YouTube below.
Speaking on the single, frontman Mez Green says, “After completing ‘A Picture of Good Health’ I felt like I belonged in the world, lyrically painting over the bone-eating demons, I wanted to express why this was. I wanted to scratch it out like people do on woodland trees or moorland rocks. It was love; I found love.
‘Switching On’ is my lyrical attempt of charting that journey; the initial giddy, nervous and pinch-me moments, the wanting to be accepted, the lust and the incredible feeling of finding that person and falling in love.
The band wanted to be open to all aspects of musicality so that the lyrics were given an aural heart. We wanted to be brave, bold and exciting as we evolve our sound and rhythms by bringing in elements of synths, pads, machines and pure bass and guitar experimentation.
‘Switching On’ is a nod to where we want to be and where we are going; the future.”
2019 was an incendiary year for the band, which saw them release their critically acclaimed second album ‘A Picture Of Good Health’, earning plaudits from the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music (4 playlisted singles + Album Of the Day) and BBC Radio 1 (Jack Saunder’s Album Of The Weekend) as well as being selected as Liz Kershaw’s Album Of The Year on BBC 6 Music. Similarly, the album has received high praise from a number of major publications as well as featuring in end of year lists from the likes of the Guardian, Dork and more.
The new single also follows the recent announcement of a new run of tour dates to take place across the UK in April 2020. The dates come on the heels of the band’s recent arena tour as main support for Kaiser Chiefs and also follows on from their own packed-out UK/EU headline tour and unforgettable album launch in a Camden kebab shop.
Alongside the new UK tour dates the band have also just played a short string of French shows – where they also made a big impact over the last year, recently appearing on national TV alongside Primal Scream and IDLES for Jenny Beth’s new TV show ECHOES – and will return for further live dates in late-April. Elsewhere, LIFE will be playing at New Colossus Festival in New York later this week – they will play both the launch party and will support A Place To Bury Strangers at Brooklyn’s Bowery Ballroom – before heading to Austin to play a number of shows, despite the recent cancellation of SXSW.
Upcoming tour dates
March
13 March – New Colossus @ Bowery Ballroom
w/ A Place To Bury Strangers, New York City
14 March – New Colossus @ Berlin w/ DIY Magazine, New York
17 – 21 March – Austin, Texas
22 March – Three Links 2, Dallas
April
11 April – Stockton Calling
12 April – Manchester – Deaf Institute
13 April – Edinburgh – Sneaky Pete’s
14 April – Nottingham – Bodega
16 April – London – Lafyette
17 April – Sheffield – Academy 3
18 April – Hull – Welly
19 April – Birmingham – Academy 3
20 April – Bristol – Rough Trade
22 April – France, Paris – Le Badaboum
23 April – France, Bourges – Le Printemps de Bourges
May
10 May – Blue Shell, Cologne, Germany
11 May – Cassiopeia, Berlin, Germany
12 May – Sputnik Cafe, Munster, Germany
13 May – Kranhalle, Munich, Germany
14 May – Mallorca Live Festival, Mallorca
15 May – Blah Blah, Turin, Italy
16 May – Colorificio Kroen, Verona, Italy
19 May – Haafenklang, Hamburg, Germany
21 May – Merleyn, Nijmegen, Netherlands
22 May – ACU, Utrecht, Netherlands
23 May – Sniester Festival, Den Haag, Netherlands
24 May – V11, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Produced by Luke Smith (Foals) and mixed by Claudius Mittendorfer (Parquet Courts), LIFE’s new album sees the band home in on a bigger and more focused sound whilst also channelling the lyrical content inwards. Whereas the band’s debut album ‘Popular Music’ was broadly political, the new album takes a more personal approach with beguilingly honest and brave lyrics that are bold in both sound and feeling, whilst also retaining the core DNA of their previous material.
Speaking about the album Mez goes on to say “A Picture of Good Health is not a collage of work but rather a snapshot of time; our time and the time of those around us. It’s political, but in a personal way. It’s a body of work that explores and examines the band’s inner selves through a precise period; a period that has brought pain, loneliness, blood, guts, single parenthood, depression and the need for survival and love. It is the sense and need for belonging that is the resounding end note!”
‘A Picture Of Good Health’ tracklisting
1. Good Health
2. Moral Fibre
3. Bum Hour
4. Hollow Thing
5. Excites Me
6. Never Love Again
7. Half Pint Fatherhood
8. Grown Up
9. Niceties
10. Thoughts
11. It’s A Con
12. Don’t Give Up Yet
13. New Rose in Love
‘A Picture Of Good Health’ is out now via band’s own label ‘Afghan Moon’ & [PIAS].
