The
award-winning progressive rock band Big Big Train will release
their 15th studio album ‘The Likes Of Us’ on 1st March
2024. The album is the internationally-based group’s first full collection of
songs since the unexpected passing of long-serving lead vocalist David Longdon
in late 2021. Besides marking the debut of new frontman Alberto Bravin, a
former member of the Italian band Premiata Forneria Marconi, ‘The Likes Of Us’
also heralds the beginning of a new relationship with InsideOutMusic, the group
having self-released their music for almost two decades.
The
band comments: “We are delighted to announce the release of ‘The Likes
Of Us’. After the events of the last few years, this is a particularly
important album for us, both as a band and individually. We’re very proud of
the new songs, which we recorded principally in a studio in Italy. Working
together in one room brought additional inspiration, real energy and a clear
sense of purpose. We’re thrilled with the results.”
To coincide with this announcement, the band have launched the first single from the album, a track titled ‘Oblivion’ which the band were seen performing on their UK and European tour in August and September 2023. The video was filmed by Tim Sidwell of Toward Infinity at Urban Recording Studio in Trieste.
‘The
Likes Of Us’ will be released on several different formats, including for the
first time as Dolby Atmos mixed by The Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord, while the
stereo mixes were undertaken by the band’s regular engineer Rob Aubrey together
with Alberto Bravin. The Dolby Atmos mix will come as part of the Limited CD
& Blu-ray Mediabook edition that also contains the album as 5.1 Surround
Sound & 24-bit high-resolution stereo. The album will also be available as
a Gatefold 180g 2LP (available in black, sky blue, olive green and orange
formats), Standard CD Jewelcase and Digital Album. The stunning artwork was
created by the band’s longstanding collaborator Sarah Louise Ewing, with
layouts by Steve Vantsis.
Pre-order
now here: https://bigbigtrain.lnk.to/TheLikesOfUs
The
album’s full track listing is as follows:
1. Light
Left In The Day 06:10
2. Oblivion
05:27
3. Beneath
The Masts 17:26
4. Skates
On 04:28
5. Miramare
10:17
6. Love
Is The Light 06:11
7. Bookmarks
06:23
8. Last
Eleven 07:55
In
May 2023, six members of Big Big Train left their homes in England (bassist
Gregory Spawton, guitarist Dave Foster and violinist Clare Lindley), the United
States (drummer Nick D’Virgilio), Sweden (guitarist/keyboardist Rikard Sjöblom)
and Norway (keyboardist Oskar Holldorff) to gather for a week in lead vocalist
Alberto Bravin’s home town of Trieste in north eastern Italy. They convened at
Urban Recording, a studio recommended by Alberto, to lay down the basic tracks
for the band’s new studio album ‘The Likes Of Us’. Being face to face in a
room, as opposed to emailing sound files, the intimacy of the process generated
moments of inspiration that would otherwise have gone unheard.
The
process would prove emotional. “There were some tears; I cried a few of my
own,” recalls D’Virgilio. “There are many reasons to explain why we hadn’t
worked that way in quite a while, but the process brought out the best in
everybody.”
“These
were stories from our lives and we have a deep, personal connection with them,”
Spawton remembers. “If there was blood on the tracks, we did everything
possible to let that sink into the music.”
On
the group’s most recent tour, two selections from ‘The Likes Of Us’ – first
single ‘Oblivion’ and ‘Love Is The Light’ – were introduced to an ecstatic
audience response. During a tidal wave of rebirth and celebration for Big Big
Train, Alberto Bravin was accepted as one of the family. Indeed, the chemistry
of the band’s latest line-up has delivered mouth-watering results. “We’ve got a
great mix of people that want to be here and go the extra mile to do something
very special,” D’Virgilio concludes. “There’s a big world of talented musicians
out there, and luckily some of them want to hang out with us.”
ALBERTO
BRAVIN – Lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
NICK
D’VIRGILIO – Drums, percussion, vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, vocals
DAVE
FOSTER – Guitars
OSKAR
HOLLDORFF – Keyboards, vocals
CLARE
LINDLEY – Violin, vocals
RIKARD
SJÖBLOM – Guitars, keyboards, vocals
GREGORY
SPAWTON – Bass guitar, bass pedals, 12-string acoustic guitar, Mellotron
BIG
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