Debut album of meditative grooves from London four-piece, inspired by Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Steely Dan. FFO Whitney, Kevin Morby, White Denim.
BLUEPRINT BLUE
Share new single/video, "Real As These"
Announce London release show on 26th April at
The Waiting Room
Debut album Tourist, due
26th April on the band's own Toadspin Records
Preorder here: https://bit.ly/2GKjJ4I
Previous praise for Blueprint Blue:
"A breezy summer jam that blends Belle and Sebastian-esque sweetness with a blue-eyed soul undercurrent, it’s an understated gem" - DIY
"[Roll On] is a sumptuous, hazy love ballad that takes cues from the mastery of seventies pop" - So Young
"Blueprint Blue have created a stir in some quarters over the past year, with their demo tapes revealing a precocious, emotionally engrossing sense of songcraft." - Clash
"a compelling set full of doe-eyed Neil Young-isms performed with the tightest solidarity.. the melodic trio were every bit the band to rival The Band." - Crack
Blueprint Blue are lost in space. Their debut album, Tourist – self-released on their own Toadspin Records on 26th April - is a ten-track examination of love, the human condition and the future, beamed down from the ether and set to pristine, jazzy pop-rock.
Science fiction and fantasy define this record, and things are rarely as they seem. Today, they share new single, "Real As These", along with a video of footage from the album recording sessions last year:
Blueprint Blue - Real As These
https://youtu.be/ihvtbpDlbj0
"
Real As These" is based on an Isaac Asimov short story called Dreaming Is A Private Thing. The band explain, "
In the story, the next generation of mass consumer entertainment is a dream sequence called a Dreamie. The Dreamie is a totally immersive experience in which the user can touch, feel, taste, smell and affect one’s manufactured surroundings. The song is a sales pitch for a leading Dreamie manufacturer focusing on the more banal and hackneyed worlds one might hope to inhabit. But imagine the awful scenarios people would create if this technology were available now!"
To celebrate Tourist's release, they'll also play a very special release party on 26th April at The Waiting Room in London. Tickets are free and available from Dice to guarantee entry on the night.
Friday 26th April - Waiting Room, London - free show. (Facebook event / tickets)
Blueprint Blue's voyage began four years ago, when singer and guitarist Elliot Hayward, bassist Huw Webb and drummer Melissa Rigby had their first band practice in a back room round the corner from a pool hall. Bound together by a shared love of Neil Young, Grateful Dead and Steely Dan, Blueprint Blue quickly found their groove. The South Londoners released two EPs, Undertoad and Flying Machine, and then welcomed guitarist Rhys Timson into the family.
Recorded to 24-track tape at Vacant TV studio near Greenwich with Younghusband’s Euan Hinshelwood, Tourist represents the freest and fullest realisation of the band’s potential yet. It’s heady mix of guitars, bass, drums and their trademark harmonies is underpinned by irresistible synth lines that wander brightly throughout; an album to float through, built on easy, meditative groove.
“We’re well into keyboard territory,” Elliot says, smiling as he remembers the ham-slicing incident that meant his string finger was out of action for a while. “I hurt my hand and couldn’t play guitar, and we’ve discovered more interesting chords. We always listen to Stevie Wonder, who does brass, strings and basically everything on a synthesiser, that became a big part of the album.”
Blueprint Blue blur the lines between reality and illusion expertly. Words and music float in and out of focus, slick musicality reels you in towards cryptic lyrical pay-offs. This is classic songwriting, subverted.
“We’ve learned how to make poppier music,” Elliot finishes. “In our attempts to get to Stevie Wonder, The Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, the highest form of this music, we find ourselves somewhere else. Now, we have songs people could feasibly dance to. I’m looking forward to where we go next…”
Preorder:
https://bit.ly/2GKjJ4I
Press Photo (credit Clare Shilland) [Larger Image]
Tracklisting:
1. Tourist
2. Real As These
3. Taking My Place
4. An-D
5. Tree Song
6. Roll On
7. Heatwave
8. Bitter Musician
9. Sucker Bait
10. Is There Anybody Out There?
CONNECT
www.blueprintblue.co.uk
https://blueprintblue.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/Blueprintblueband/
www.instagram.com/blueprintblueband
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