Marius Lauber AKA Roosevelt’s ambitious and breathtakingly modern follow-up to his self-titled debut is out next month. Young Romance sees the German artist breaking free from the dance floor and stepping out into the light, effortlessly bridging that gap and asserting his place in the upper echelons of guitar and synth-pop royalty. Now less reliant on a four-to-the-floor kick drum as a rhythmic backbone, this sophomore record sees him embrace grooves of all shapes and sizes, as demonstrated on first single ‘Under the Sun,’ and most recent offering ‘Forgive,’ which featured the inimitable vocals of Ernest Green of Washed Out.

New single and final song on the album ‘Getaway’ is built around a pulsating and relentless baseline, culminating in an epic crescendo of layered synths and reverb-soaked guitars. A mid-tempo comedown from an album often littered with euphoric moments, it is one of Young Romance’s stand-out tracks, the slow burning and glorious finale it undoubtedly deserves.

Marius has this to say on the track: “‘Getaway’ was one of the last tracks I finished in the studio - I felt like there was the need for a track that didn't follow a conventional song structure and just builds on the same chords. There's something about not revealing a twist in the song, but instead to play with open cards from the beginning and to increase the tension dynamically through out the five minutes of the song. It's meant to be a very lush and positive song about escaping to an imaginary place. Compared to the rest of the album it's a very synthesizer-heavy track, most of the parts are played with a vintage Minimoog.”

Young Romance was written in his home town of Cologne and finished in Los Angeles, where it was also mixed by Chris Coady (Beach House/Grizzly Bear/Future Islands) at the legendary Sunset Sound Studios. Penned from self-reflective distance and brimming with fresh ideas and confidence, Lauber balances escapism and wistfulness in equal measure, documenting his own artistic transitions and personal experiences along the way. “I ended up processing a lot of emotions that I felt during my youth” he says, “faded relationships that haunted me for years, being on the road for what seemed like forever and the constant search for a place to call home.”

Young Romance covers the trials and tribulations of falling in love, finding ‘home’, going on tour and losing touch, propelling Roosevelt into unchartered territory, both sonically and aesthetically, and the results are thrilling. It is set for release via Greco-Roman/City Slang on September 28, with Roosevelt embarking on his biggest ever headline tour across Europe and N America.

TOUR DATES

Europe

Nov 8 - London, UK - Oval Space

Nov 9 - Manchester, UK - YES

Ash have released a new video for ‘Confessions In The Pool’, the latest single to be lifted from their UK Top 20 album release, Islands, out now via Infectious and also featuring 6Music play-listed singles ‘Buzzkill’ and ‘Annabel’. The video arrives alongside details of three just-announced Irish shows for December, landing on the end of an European tour which will follow UK headline dates  from Ash through October, including London’s O2 Forum on October 24.

Speaking about the new video - which parodies ideas of religious devotion, with a nod towards Monty Python - Ash say; “The video is a surreal play on the song title. It takes the Confessions idea and runs with it so far it becomes surreal meditation on belief and salvation in the modern age. Blessed are the cheese makers!”

Islands - Ash’s first album since 2015’s Kablammo! - marks their debut for new label Infectious Music – previously home to the band’s number one albums, 1996’s 1977 and Free All Angels in 2001. Produced by Tim Wheeler and featuring guest vocals from The Undertones’ Damien O’Neill and Mickey Bradley (who also performed with Ash during their BBC Biggest Weekend appearance earlier this year), Islands is the band’s seventh studio album with additional production from Mark Hamilton, Rick McMurray and Claudius Mittendorfer – who also mixed the album at the band’s studio in New York. 

Following 2015’s Kablammo! after the band’s self-imposed album hiatus since 2007’s Twilight Of The Innocents – Islands is an open-hearted collection of songs drawn from frontman Tim Wheeler’s reflective lyrical axis dealing with friendship and betrayal, love and loss, an album which reaffirms the band’s status as one of the most idiosyncratic and singularly thrilling guitar bands on these islands.

September

1st   DALKEITH  Midstock Festival

October

16th  SHEFFIELD   Leadmill

17th  GLASGOW   O2 ABC

19th  BRISTOL   SWX

20th  BIRMINGHAM   O2 Institute

21st  NORWICH   Waterfront

23rd  MANCHESTER   O2 Ritz

24th  LONDON   O2 Forum

December

18th CORK Cyprus Avenue

19th DUBLIN Academy

20th BELFAST Limelight