Lottery Winners have announced their new studio album ‘KOKO’ with the playful new single ‘You Again’, featuring Reverend & The Makers’ Jon McClure.
Set for release next year on February 21 via Modern Sky, the new record follows 2023’s ‘ART (Anxiety Replacement Therapy)’, which reached Number One on the UK charts last year.
Discussing the pressure surrounding a follow-up, Thom Rylance, the quartet’s singer, songwriter and guitarist, said: “Getting a No. 1 record was an amazing feeling of euphoria, but the comedown was almost immediate.
“I had an existential crisis, thinking: ‘Is this the best thing we’re ever going to do? How do we follow this up?’ It was an exciting time, but a real anxiety crept in.”
‘KOKO’ cover artwork. CREDIT: Press
Their motto going into the new album – “keep on keeping on” – informed the title, and the band pressed on with crafting witty lyrics for ‘KOKO’, with bassist and/vocalist, Katie Lloyd admitting on ‘You Again’: “I don’t think of you at all/ Except the 55 times a day I check if you called/ Or when I’m climbin’ up the walls.”
The song features McClure, who Lloyd describes as “the best storyteller you could ever meet”. Rylance agreed that the single is “an absolute banger” thanks to his influence, and added: “If I had to bet on any song from ‘KOKO’ being a hit, it’s ‘You Again’ – which is annoying because Jon wrote the chorus, not me.”
The tracklist of Lottery Winners’ ‘KOKO’ is:
1. ‘Superpower’
2. ‘You Again’ (feat. Reverend and the Makers)
3. ‘Panic Attack’
4. ‘UFO’
5. ‘Ragdoll’ (feat. Chad Kroeger)
6. ‘Struggling’
7. ‘Turn Around’
8. ‘Monaco’
9. ‘Three Wishes’
10. ‘Dirt and Gold’ (feat. Frank Turner)
11. ‘The Ceiling’ (feat. Shed Seven)
The band, who have now supported artists’ including Rick Astley, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Nickelback, are also set to perform a trio of homecoming shows at Manchester Academy in December. Tickets are on sale here from 10am on September 27.
Lottery Winners 2024 tour dates are:
DECEMBER:
27 – Manchester Academy
28 – Manchester Academy
29 – Manchester Academy
“I love that we appeal to people who like Rick Astley and also to people who like Nickelback,” said Thom, who said the band are “associated with bands across the entire spectrum of music”.
Guitarist Rob Lally credits playing arenas for making them “hungry to achieve that level of success” for themselves. “We’re capable of putting on a great show anywhere. We started out performing for 50 people in tiny clubs, but throw us into a stadium of thousands, and we’ll be fine.”
Likewise, Thom praises Noel Gallagher for giving them a sense of legitimacy. “Noel told me, ‘I like you, let’s stay in touch,’” he recalled. “Being friends with Noel is one of those moments that made me feel like, yes, maybe we really are a proper band now.”
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