Following the split of Black Midi, Geordie Greep has shared details of a debut solo album called ‘The New Sound’. Check out the lead single ‘Holy Holy’ and new tour dates below.
READ MORE: Black Midi – ‘Hellfire’ review: intense first-person narratives fuel a genre-gnarling thrill ride
The announcement of the new material comes just days after Greep and bandmate Cameron Picton confirmed the “indefinite” end to the band on social media.
In an Instagram Live broadcast, Greep responded to fans asking when the band would be releasing a new album by typing “no more black midi” and “it’s over” into the chat.
He continued: “Black Midi was an interesting band that’s now indefinitely over.”
Now, just over a week afterwards, Greep has shared details of a new debut solo album titled ‘The New Sound’. It was made by the guitarist and vocalist while together with Black Midi, and developed amid the band sharing their 2022 album ‘Hellfire’ and touring almost non-stop for nearly five years.
Set to arrive on October 4 (pre-order here), the forthcoming release is set to see the artist explore heavy themes of desperation, alongside an “all-embracing alternative pop fun not heard in a very long time”.
“The main theme of the record is desperation; you don’t hear an unreliable narrator but someone who is kidding themselves that they have everything under control, but they don’t,” Greep explained. “With recording ‘The New Sound’, it was the first time I have had no one to answer to.
“With every impulse I had, I was able to completely follow it through to its conclusion. Being in a band, we often have this ‘we can do everything’ feeling, but you are also kind of limited in that approach, and sometimes it’s good to do something else, to let go of things.”
According to a new press release, the inspiration for the album is best captured in the lead single ‘Holy Holy’, which has been shared today (August 20) to celebrate the album announcement. It is the first of the 11 songs on the LP tracklist to be shared, check it out above.
As for the album as a whole, the project was made across over 30 sessions on two continents – taking place in both São Paulo and London.
“Some of the tracks we had recorded already, elsewhere, but it just wasn’t right, so we re-recorded them with new people,” Greep recalled. “Half of the tracks were done in Brazil, with local musicians pulled together at the last minute. They’d never heard anything I’d done before, they were just interested in the demos I’d made. The tracking was all done in one, maybe two days. Then we did the overdubs later, in London.”
He continued, explaining how he hopes the songs will resonate with listeners from beginning to end. “I was worried about the length in terms of not overblowing it. But I’m also really bloody bored of listening to music and, for better or worse, knowing in advance what it means or what it’s trying to do. All my favourite music is about the listener coming to terms with what is going on.
“My favourite singers, like Peter Hammill or Nat King Cole, are literally one of a kind. I love that. Especially with lyrics, where you’re not sure what they’re going on about, but you know it’s not just abstract thoughts.”
‘The New Sound’ album artwork. CREDIT: Press
‘The New Sound’ tracklist is:
‘Blues’
‘Terra’
‘Holy, Holy’
‘The New Sound’
‘Walk Up’
‘Through A War’
‘Bongo Season’
‘Motorbike’
‘As If Waltz’
‘The Magician’
‘If You Are But A Dream’
As well as announcing the LP and dropping lead single ‘Holy Holy’, Greep has also shared a number of international tour dates, which include shows across the US, the UK and the rest of Europe.
The dates also include a number of festival slots, and commence tomorrow (August 21) with two sold-out dates in London. Visit here for UK tickets, and here for international tickets.
Black Midi formed in 2017 and were quickly met with acclaim for their brand of experimental art rock. In 2018, Shame declared the trio, comprised of Greep, Picton and Morgan Simpson the “best band in London”.
Since then, they released three studio albums. Their 2019 debut ‘Schlagenheim’ was given four stars from NME, in a review that said they were “making music like no other band in the world.” It was followed by 2021’s ‘Cavalcade’ and ‘Hellfire’ in 2022.
Elsewhere, in 2020 they released a jam and spoken word album entitled, ‘The Black Midi Anthology Vol. 1: Tales of Suspense and Revenge’, on Bandcamp.
Black Midi’s last LP ‘Hellfire’ was given a four-star review by NME, which claimed that the project delivered “more musical thrills and about-turns per minute than few other records we’ve heard this year”.
It added: “Sounding more assured of their creative agility than ever before, ‘Hellfire’ is the work of a very special group of alchemists.”
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