Cardiff-based quartet Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard have pleasantly surprised fans today, announcing the imminent release of their second studio album, ‘Skinwalker’. Coming off the back of the band’s recent hit single “Therapy”, the new album (Pre-order HERE) will arrive on 12th April, via Communion Records, following the band’s March 2024 UK tour.
The new album was written and recorded at frontman and producer Tom Rees’ Rat Trap Studio, where Rees previously recorded and produced tracks for up and coming acts such as Panic Shack, Do Nothing and The Bug Club. The new material – as heard on ‘Therapy’ and their previous single ‘Chew’ – reveals a heavier and more unsettling sound than any previous releases.
The genesis for this new, darker approach lies in found-footage horror and the Navajo concept of the Skinwalker – a legendary, malevolent shapeshifter – from which the album takes its name. Each track on the record is intended to take listeners through descending levels of Rees mind, each more horrific than the last, with the Skinwalker lying in wait on the final level representing Rees’ inner fears, self-sabotage, hatred and self-doubt. The record is evidently a profoundly personal account of self-reflection and development narrated through heavy, fuzz-drenched guitars, a crushing rhythm section and fevered vocals.
That said, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard still carry that same the fast-paced energy and subtle trademark ‘70s references from their earlier releases, and this is particularly evident on the danceable, indie-funk inflected new single “National Rust”, which was premiered last night by Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 6 Music.
Commenting on the new single Rees said, “‘National Rust’ was my attempt at consolidating my 2020 obsession with Sly and the Family Stone with my 2021 obsession with David Bowie’s album ‘Low’. It was the first song that really paved the way for the new album, it broke a lot of the sonic boundaries that I was writing within when starting the second album, “I AM NOT AFRAID OF PLAYING FUNKY GUITAR!”, I exclaimed, mu-tron in hand.
Lyrically, it made a statement that informed my songwriting moving forward as well, being a flagrant rejection of my previous political song writing, and an admission of alienation amongst a plethora of information. ‘National Rust’ acts as a bridge between my younger, more political perspective, and my more recent, more apathetic one.”
Elsewhere on the record, the harmony-filled “In My Egg” sees Rees sing about the struggles to force yourself out of your comfort zone, whilst “Human Compression” see the band delve into an almost desert-rock sound with hazy, unrelenting guitar work supporting Rees’s lyrics about the pressure he puts on himself. The psychedelic glam-tinged “Night Of The Skinwalker” – a song which centres around his struggles with self-doubt- marks the albums opus, melding a number of styles and genres across almost six minutes.
The band’s blistering live sets have seen them make fans in tourmates from The Magic Gang to Miles Kane, and they were due to support Noel Gallagher – another in a growing list of fans – at the Royal Albert Hall before the coronavirus struck. They have also played at various festivals including Glastonbury, Eurosonic, Latitude, All Points East, SXSW, and Green Man, and have also toured extensively, including a packed headline date at Scala. As we said in the preamble, the band will be back on the road this March for a 16-date UK tour, where the band will continue to debut some of the new album material.
The UK tour dates are as follows:
FEBRUARY 2024
24 – Swansea, Swansea Arena House Party
MARCH 2024
01 – Oxford, Jericho Tavern
03 – Exeter, The Cavern
04 – Falmouth, Cornish Bank
06 – Norwich, Voodoo Daddy’s
07 – Chelmsford, Hot Box
08 – Ipswich, The Smokehouse
10 – Tunbridge Wells, Forum
12 – Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms
13 – St Albans, The Horn
14 – Ramsgate, Music Hall
16 – Peterborough, Met Lounge
17 – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
18 – Hull, Adelphi Club
20 – Stockton, Ku Bar
21 – Sunderland, Independent
22 – Edinburgh, Voodoo Rooms
24 – Grimsby, Docks Academy
25 – York, The Fulford Arms
26 – Clitheroe, The Swan & Royal
27 – Frome, The Tree House
APRIL
02 – Rotterdam, Netherlands, V11
03 – Paris, France, L’International
04 – Hasselt, Belgium, Café Café
Tickets are on sale now here.
Photo credit: Charlie Harris
