Never Going Under is the highly anticipated fifth album from Circa Waves, which dropped in January 2023 via PIAS / Lower Third, and features the singles “Hell On Earth”, “Do You Wanna Talk”, “Carry You Home” and “Living In The Grey”. The album contains themes of how despite the ills of the world and changes in today’s rapidly moving society that there’s still room for optimism for the future. Frontman Kieran Shudall stated, “Never Going Under speaks to that uniquely modern phenomenon of genuinely not knowing what type of world our kids are going to find themselves in in 30 years. Physically, environmentally, politically we are completely in the unknown. That scares us all but ultimately we know we can never give up on the future because how can you? The songs on the album are written differently from the previous work we’ve put out. They are written from the perspective of my son and also from my own current experience of the climate today.” Going on the ten year anniversary as a band, the album features the four piece just as strong as when they burst onto the scene in 2013 with their breakthrough EP, ‘Young Chasers’ that featured their signature hit, “T-Shirt Weather”. Speaking to their time as a band for the last ten years, guitarist Joe Falconer noted, “it was difficult to imagine at the beginning that we would still be here in ten years. I think it’s not like a lot of our peers at the beginning who aren’t making records anymore and I think that maybe if people were to bet on who would still be around, I think some people probably wouldn’t have thought we’d still be here.” Like many experienced during the pandemic, Circa Waves took stock in their career and experienced a deeper appreciation for one another not only as bandmates but also as friends. “I think one of the things that works is we do get on and we’ve just gotten better as a band and we’ve got better at working together,” Falconer said. “I think that the pandemic was useful for us as a band in the sense it gave us a point to sort of separate a little bit and take a breath because we’ve been touring non-stop for seven years. I think that you sort of get used to it and you get caught up in the endless cycle of albums and touring. Being able to take a break and then have it taken away from you and then being able to come back and pick up exactly where we left off, it means that we’re we’re in a really good spot at the moment.” Circa Waves will be on an international tour that will take them through Australia, Netherlands and their native UK throughout the summer.
Circa Waves spoke with B-Sides host Pete Mar about how their strong friendships together have strengthened their bond as a band, how their optimistic outlook on the future despite the dark period of the early pandemic, helped spur music for their new album.
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