Brit-rockers The Futureheads promise “something different” on album number five, Rant.
The Futureheads - Rant
Singer Barry Hyde said in a press release, “The Futureheads have been together for a long time now. And we have the right to do something different” and he ain’t kidding.
The new album Rant is entirely a cappella – not an instrument in earshot, apart from their voices.
Guitarist and vocalist Ross Millard explains “We’ve always been a four-part harmony group; it’s been a massive part of the genetics of this band.”
The band perform four folk standards – ‘Sumer Is Icumen In’, ‘The Keeper’, ‘The Old Dun Cow’ and ‘Hanging Johnny’ – as well as four Futureheads tunes ‘Thursday’, ‘Robot’, ‘Man Ray’ and ‘Meantime’, and covers of Kelis’ ‘Acapella’, Black Eyed Peas ‘Meet Me Halfway’ and Sparks’ ‘The No. 1 Song In Heaven.’
Of the cover angle, Hyde explains, “We wanted to give ourselves a break from writing. This album is an experiment in arrangement from a band not feeling the need to write another album of originals. Learning other people’s songs and re-arranging your own is a great exercise and has freed me up to write a bunch of songs for our next album.”
He also defends the choice, saying “A Futureheads fan who doesn’t get Rant is not a Futureheads fan. This version of The Futureheads has always been there. We’re bringing to the fore what we’re really about: a unification, a gang mentality, which is in the balance between our voices and our personalities.”
And he insists, “Just because this is an a cappella album doesn’t mean to say that the songs are slow or passive. They’re still in-your-face, slightly mad, aggressive. They’re still The Futureheads,”
Rant will be released through Liberator in Australia on April 2.
