The Bats announce new album 'Foothills' (watch the "Warwick" video)
New Zealand indie rock greats The Bats, who have had the same four-piece lineup for 38 years (including The Clean’s Robert Scott), are back with their 10th album, Foothills, which will be out November 13 via their longtime label, Flying Nun. It’s their first in nearly four years.
“Time marches on,” say the band. “Finally, we found a gap in our busy lives and chose a week to convene. We found a house that is usually inhabited by ski field workers — Kowai Bush, near Springfield about an hour west of Christchurch and of course nestled in the foothills of the mighty Southern Alps. The songs had been written, demo’d and arranged for some time, but still with a little room for trying things out in the studio. Many carloads arrived at the house, full of amps guitars and recording gear, we set up camp and soon made it feel like home; coloured lights, a log fire, and home cooked meals in the kitchen. We worked fast, and within a few days had all the basic backing tracks done, live together in one room, the way we like to do it – it’s all about ‘the feel’ for songs like ours.”
The first single is “Warwick” which, well, sounds like The Bats, with Scott’s signature strum and Kaye Woodward’s snakey leads. The video for the song depicts a very 2020 scenario and you can watch that below.
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TRACKLIST
SIDE A
1. Trade In Silence
2. Warwick
3. Beneath The Visor
4. Scrolling
5. Another Door
6. Red Car
SIDE B
1. Field of Vision
2. Change Is All
3. As You Were
4. Smaller Pieces
5. Gone to Ground
6. Electric Sea View
