So, 2025. Great time to be alive! In December 2023 we made the last tweaks to a song called Crowland, all about a fictional parallel universe. The place that many people that we would loosely describe as cunty wanted to drag us all back to. A place without ethics, rights to self, care for others... a theocratic monocultural wasteland. In February 2025 when the album finally tears through the membrane, Crowland looks more real than we're comfortable with, hence THIS IS CROWLAND.
The title of this post is ironic, This Is Crowland was not a difficult album to record in any real sense. We weren't starving or being prevented from doing exactly what we wanted in any way, and we had no lack of ideas. We also now have most of the practical studio skills to make our music sound more or less how we want it to sound. So no excuses, this is the real shit.
Not going to lie, never thought we'd make quite this much music in our short career. But then, all that time in rehearsal rooms with every other band I've been in, converted instead into songwriting and recording gives us the luxury or making a lot of music.
This is the best 9 o'clock Nasty album. That isn't the put down any of the others, but this one feels really special. The sort of thing you don't get to make often in a lifetime.
You can hear it:
On Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer etc etc. It's on all the streaming services and that is how most people listen to our stuff. No complaints, thank you.
You can also hear it, and see it free on Youtube on this playlist.
It's on Bandcamp as a CD or download, and on Patreon if you're a paying member.
The trackist is:
- Crowland
- Unkle Natur
- Smash Grab and Go!
- The Wrong Guy
- Hot Disco Shit
- Bad Vegan
- For the Sugar
- Pusher Needs a Haircut
- Kid Blast
- Coliseum
- Shrink Wrap
- Bad Monkey
- Devil Don’t Care
- Dead Pilot
- Paint Me
We wanted an album that was just popping with songs you'd skip to and play over and over. We wanted an album where every track would stand comparison with your favourite music. We don't want to make songs that are "good for an independent artist working on their own."
Fuck that. We want to make songs as good as anything ever produced. As well recorded and as well written as the very best music out there.
Judge for yourselves how close we got. There are certainly moments where we touch the sky.
Some of the songs popped easy. Smash Grab and Go and Bad Vegan were almost instant. Hot Disco Shit was (I think) just one afternoon to do, but that was after two years of it being half-complete. Paint Me was agony, we demoed it for "By All Means Necessary" the same night as Darker Star, but it just languished waiting for the moment. Then, something shifted and it landed. Pete put in long, long hours working on some of the edits to get them all to the final version.
We think Pete's mum likes "Coliseum" best. So that is officially the best song on the album. Ma Brock is the ultimate arbiter of truth.
We're dead happy with this album Proud. Content. So now we need to crack on with the next one.
As always, a huge thank you to anyone that wrote about the album. List of links below: