Last summer, we introduced you to Victory Lane. Their debut EP, ‘Louder Than Words’, was a punchy and sincere take on pop-punk, putting the Birmingham based band on the map amongst a burgeoning underground scene.
For the best part of 2018, the quintet has been working on their second EP – ‘Barebones’. Produced by Romesh Dodangoda (Bring Me The Horizon, Trash Boat, Bullet For My Valentine and more), it sees Victory Lane grow beyond the confines of pop-punk and pop-rock with its first single, ‘Can’t Let You Back In’, highlighting a more intense direction.
Although ‘Barebones’ won’t see the light of day until next year, we’ve teamed up with Victory Lane to premiere the video for ‘Can’t Let You Back In’.
We also spoke to vocalist Dan Lamb about the band’s growth, ‘Can’t Let You Back In’ and what we can expect from ‘Barebones’.
AH: ‘Can’t Let You Back In’ is the first single from your upcoming ‘Barebones’ EP. It’s an edgier effort compared to what we heard on ‘Louder Than Words’ EP. How has the band grown since last year’s EP?
Dan Lamb: First of all it’s awesome that you noticed how different this record is in a sense of its edgier take, as that was something we really wanted to achieve with this EP. I can in confidence state that we’ve grown hugely as a band in songwriting and our overall look on the band going forward. We wanted to step up with this EP and show our listener’s lots of different sides to Victory Lane that we couldn’t explore on ‘Louder Than Words’.
AH: ‘Can’t Let You Back In’ is about the horrible truths that occur after a break-up. How does that idea link into the video we’re premiering today?
Dan: The videos idea came from the video’s director, Matty Daley, we knew we wanted one location that everything can be drawn to, this being the place the male is captured in. Matty was fantastic in helping us set up a scene and the idea of the male bound to a chair where throughout he tries to break free. The horrible truths in question are, who’s to blame? And how do they move on from it? ‘CLYBI’’s video shows the truths that the male thought he was to blame because he was held down and bound in that situation by the female. But as we come to find it’s the female that was bound the whole time, it just took him time to realise this.
AH: ‘Barebones’ is said to be more diverse and personal. What can you tell us about this?
Dan: With ‘Louder Than Words’ we made stories, (aside from ‘Who We Are’ / ‘Rainy Day’) something someone may go through in their lifetime. But with ‘Barebone”s we wanted to project moments we’ve had. With loss, struggles and everything that brings you down to a point of complete self-doubt.
‘Barebones’ is six tracks that all relate to one or more of our members. It also has very diverse songs throughout, coming from a dark place to a place of freedom and joy. We also want people to realise the message of ‘Barebones,’ to not fear in showing what lies underneath all the trials we undertake every day. Everyone should be honest and self-right. Not being put off from your stripping back and revealing your Barebones.
AH: You worked with acclaimed producer Romesh Dodangoda on the new EP. How beneficial was having his experience?
Dan: We admire him greatly, his relaxed approach on recording was just what we needed. We’re also blessed to find a producer who really just let us strip back from production as much as possible. We really wanted this EP to have a “band” sound, no extra production just everything you’d hear live. This was essential from the start with the idea of ‘Barebones’, we wanted a clean but established sound with a lot of grit. We knew we’d get that with Romesh.
AH: Although the EP won’t be released until 2019, what else can we expect to see and hear from Victory Lane until then?
Dan: More music! We’re going to release more songs from ‘Barebones’, all very different from each other. We signed to Artery Global this year and they’ve been doing some amazing stuff behind the scenes. A tour with the dudes in Maypine in November to start things off. So expect a busy calendar for VL shows!
Victory Lane will be touring with Maypine in November:
November
8th The Bunk House, Swansea
9th Cobblestones, Bridgwater
10th Patterns, Brighton
11th The Exchange, Stoke On Trent*
12th 229, London
* Victory Lane only
Victory Lane links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
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