Basement Set to Release First Album in Eight Years

British alt-rockers Basement have shared details of their first album in eight years. ‘Wired’ will be released on May 8th, and sees the band rejoin Run For Cover Records.

To mark the announcement, the quintet have shared two tracks from the album. The title track, ‘Wired,’ sees Basement demonstrate their familiar urgency with a gritty undertone that bursts into a fuzz-laden chorus. In contrast, ‘Broken By Design’ is a delicate, laid-back number, yet maintains Basement‘s melodic abilities. Together, they hint at an album that promises to offer dynamic breadth.

“‘WIRED’ is about how sometimes it feels that we are set up to feel and behave in certain ways beyond our control. That no matter how hard you try to hide it, eventually it will come out – either by choice or by force,” shares Basement vocalist Andrew Fisher. “This song was almost lost – a few of us were into it, but it sort of lost traction for a bit. Then one day it cropped back up, and we put it at the forefront of our minds, and it ended up being one of my favourite songs to perform and record.”

On ‘Broken By Design,’ Andrew said the track is about “giving something your absolute best and realising it’s destined to fail.” With the band having taken lengthy breaks in the past and having grown up together, ‘Broken By Design’ sees Fisher reflect on the growth between band members. “We’ve all done a lot of work on getting better at talking to each other as friends and as band mates. Sometimes that’s an easy distinction – or rather, not a distinction at all. Other times, the lines are blurred and we lose track of who we are and why we do this. When I’m singing, ‘let’s go back to the start’ I mean to when we did this purely for fun. For an excuse to see each other, to travel, to be creative, to express ourselves through music. We all feel so lucky to be in a position to still get to do this, and this album and this song in particular, is us trying to go back to how it should be.”

‘WIRED’ sees the band work with producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Mannequin Pussy). Together, they aimed to create an album that would considerably define Basement. It resulted in Congleton ensuring that every moment on ‘Wired’ sounds both precise and enervated. “I never thought Basement could sound like this,” says guitarist Alex Henery. “But in my head, it’s what I’ve always wanted Basement to sound like.” 

Following its May 8th release, Basement will play a host of European dates, including appearances at Outbreak Festival in Manchester and London.

June
28th Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester (Outbreak Festival headline)
August
23rd Victoria Park, London (All Points East x Outbreak)