Exclusive: Frontman Simon Neil reveals the joy of "making a shit-ton of noise with your buddies" on the new Biffy Clyro album.
Fresh from the release of their colossal new single Instant History last week, Biffy Clyro have revealed what has gone into the making of their upcoming eighth album, and how they've rediscovered their love of noise after the pop-rock of 2016's Ellipsis and the Unplugged album and tour that later followed.
In this week's issue of Kerrang!, we catch up with Simon Neil, and Ben and James Johnston, to hear all about what's to come from the Scottish rock titans this year, and just what they can say about their as-yet-untitled new full-length, which is due to arrive in 2020.
“Well, it’s Biffy 2020, motherfuckers!" smiles Simon. "This is a record that only our band could make, I think. After doing the Unplugged album, we realised we weren’t at that stage yet as a band. We loved doing the Unplugged tour, but I think if anything it made us fall in love with noise again."
Simon adds that the release of last year's Balance, Not Symmetry also played a part in Biffy's mood going into this record, feeling as though their work on the soundtrack album left things wide open in regards to creative freedom.
“After releasing Balance, Not Symmetry last year, we felt responsibility leave us," Simon continues. "We went back to work with [Ellipsis producer] Rich Costey for a second time, and things became easier there – your communication becomes a lot more unsaid the more you work with someone. I compare Ellipsis to Blackened Sky and Puzzle, which were the first records we made with those producers [Chris Sheldon and Garth ‘GGGarth’ Richardson] – they’re quite clean records, and you can hear that we’re still feeling each other out. This record feels in line with [2003’s] The Vertigo Of Bliss and Only Revolutions [the second albums from each of the preceding trilogies] – what we’re trying to achieve with this series is beginning to take shape and blossom. We felt fearless, and it’s nice to feel like we’re finding our own way.
“And also, fucking rock music is brilliant. Standing in a room making a shit-ton of noise with your buddies? Nothing beats it, and I think that’s what we’ve rediscovered.”
Read this next: 13 essential Biffy Clyro B-sides
Biffy Clyro's huge new interview and much, much more is available in the new issue of Kerrang!, which you can get anywhere in the world through Kerrang.Newsstand.co.uk. But for UK residents, it hits the shops on Wednesday, February 26 from all good newsagents.
In live news, Biffy were recently confirmed to perform at this year’s BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend.
“We are delighted to be appearing at Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Dundee,” enthused Simon. “We have had a wonderful relationship with Radio 1 over the years and it is always a highlight to play at the festival. We cannot wait!”
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