Blanketman return today with new single ‘Beach Body’, produced by Luke Smith (Foals, Depeche Mode, Petite Noir, LIFE). It arrives as the follow-up to their much-heralded debut single ‘Taking You With Me’, which cruelly arrived right after the band performed sold-out live shows just before Lockdown took hold.
Over the last year or two the band have been spearheading a burgeoning scene in Manchester and have gigged extensively throughout the city, performing their original brand of restless post-punk and cerebral indie-pop, served with a sharper, more sardonic pop edge than many of their more po-faced peers. So sharp in fact that Steve Hanley, of The Fall and Brix Smith & Extricated, has performed live on stage with them on two occasions already.
Back in March, the band’s debut single earned its share of early media praise, including a Next Hype slot from Jack Saunders on BBC Radio 1, as well as a Ones To Watch 2020 pick from Huw Stephens. However, where their introduction to the world shone the light on a band full of ideas – and cut a boundless, energetically pop edge that saw them likened to early Blur – new single ‘Beach Body’ dials up the urgency and distils a swift insistence, on top of which vocalist Adam Hopper masterminds a trove of indelible melodies, punctuated by the refrain “Lift off! Lift off!”. He comments on the new single: “After a troubled lost summer, we felt we needed a new advert for British exceptionalism and the Brit abroad.”
Blanketman are a band with both style and substance in abundance. ‘Beach Body’ contains an infectious riff that grabs from the first repetition, juxtaposed with a drawled vocal style that creates a heady concoction which captivates. Lift off, indeed.
