When all else appears dark in the universe a sudden ray of sunshine reaches out like a spotlight to brighten the gloom. The band that is the favourite band of some your favourite bands, the iconic and legendary purveyors of iridescent jingle jangle power pop Teenage Fanclub have announced a new album ‘Do Not Dare To Dream’ due out on 9 October on Merge Records. To add lustre to the sunshine, the single ‘There Was You’ has been released and it’s a shimmering indication of business as usual for this legendary Scottish band.
‘There Was You’ is a reflective ballad that coasts on the gentle ripple of crystalline guitars and the trademark melodies that would support a structure the size of a mountain. All amply augmented by gentle and delicate harmonies and yearning romantic lyricism:
Lost and alone, I was turning to stone
And I still didn’t know what to do
But out of the gloom with your flower in bloom
There was you
The track is accompanied by a performance video shot at Black Bay Studio on Great Bernera, and by the amphidromic point at the South entrance to Egersund, Norway by Donald Milne:
‘There Was You’ is out now and available to stream and download here.
Nearly four decades in, Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley have earned the right to trust their bandmates. On ‘Do Not Dare To Dream’, Teenage Fanclub’s 13th album and the follow-up to 2023’s Nothing Lasts Forever, the pair no longer arrive at the studio with songs fully arranged — they leave space for Euros Childs, Francis Macdonald and David McGowan to shape the material with them. It’s a small shift in process, but it speaks to a band still comfortable letting the work breathe rather than locking it down in advance.
The title comes from Blake’s own dry joke of a song, “I Do Not Dare To Dream,” and it sets the tone for a record that’s wary of easy uplift without tipping into gloom. Blake says:
Those ‘dare to dream’ sentiments are kind of ridiculous. I don’t think the world works that way.
.McGinley sums up the record’s temperament plainly:
We can still be cheerful and optimistic in the face of things not being great.
You can pre-order the album here and thrugh the link below.
You can catch the band on tour across the UK and Europe later this year – details below with tickets available here:
Feature Photograph: Donald Milne
