“It’s supposed to be very optimistic, even though it’s about a dark subject,” states legendary punk overlords The Damned frontman Dave Vanian, talking about the bands new single, Standing on the edge of tomorrow. “As an artist, you can’t help but reflect the times, because that’s what art does. I think we always do it, but in a slightly different way. So a song like ‘Standing…’ may seem quite joyous and uplifting musically, but some of the lyrics might be about quite dark things. That’s what I’d like to think this album is – an uplifting album, not a moaning old album – not ‘this is terrible, and that’s terrible’, and then not offering any answers. It’s more a case of, ‘If we get it together, maybe we could change things a bit’. It’s classic Damned in every way, a worthy addition to their classic single catalogue. Brimming with energy and a to die for chorus, the band propel through something every bit as good as some of their earlier material, Vanian (who wrote the track) imperious in his dark, torch song delivery.
Its taken from the bands first studio album in ten years, to be released April 13th on Search And Destroy/Spinefarm Records. Propelled by a hugely succesful PledgeMusic campaign the band decamped to Atomic Sound Studios in Brooklyn last October and set about recording the album with famed producer Tommy Visconti. Reunited with former bassist Paul Gray (who played on the classic ‘Black Album’ and ‘Strawberries’ in the early eighties), the renewed line up took full advantage of the studio’s classic Neve recording desk, valve gear and vintage equipment to form the new record.
“We deliberately recorded the album retro style,” explains guitarist Captain Sensible. “The same way our debut album was made, basically. There’s something wonderful about the seventies sounds; glam, rock and punk records, they all sound so great and Tony specialises in beautifully crafted old school production. He had us all playing live, bashing it out in the same room with a focus on getting the initial band version of each song as close as possible to the finished thing. “
Check out Standing on the edge of tomorrow, here
