Early this week, The Vaccines released the new single “All My Friends Are Falling In Love,” out now on Columbia Records. The single, written by The Vaccines frontman Justin Hayward-Young with collaborator Cole MGN (worked on Christine & the Queens’ latest record) is the band’s first new material since releasing their fourth studio album, Combat Sports earlier this year. The critically acclaimed album was hailed for the band’s return to their brand of “Vaccines rock and roll” and powerpop, led by the singles “I Can’t Quit” and “Your Love is My Favourite Band”. “We rediscovered who we were and what kind of band we wanted to be,” says singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist Justin Young. “We wanted to make a record to solidify that in our minds, and the minds of other people. We wanted to make the best record we’ve ever made.” Combat Sports was born of troubled times. The band ended the campaign for their third album, English Graffiti, with numerous issues. Members of the band had lifestyle issues and health issues – being in the band wasn’t the fun it had once been. “We lost sight of who we were and why we were there,” Young says. “When you’re as insecure and self-aware as me, there’s a constant process of second-guessing everything you do.” On top of it all, the departure of drummer Pete Robertson, caused the remaining trio to realize something about the group: “We decided we needed to make it fun again.” Lead guitarist Freddie Cowan and bassist Árni Árnason provided the manifesto: “The band were saying: ‘We love it when you bring in rock’n’roll songs – they’re so much more fun to play.’”
B-Sides met up with Justin and Freddie of The Vaccines recently to talk about the approach towards writing Combat Sports, their thoughts on the expectations of socio-political responsibilities put on artists and more. Check out the interview:
