The Irish four-piece The Clockworks return with their first new music of 2023, sharing single ‘Westway’ and announcing their debut album which is set for release on 10 November. Released independently on their own Life and Times Recordings, Exit Strategy is a 13-track labour of love, recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Love Electric, enlisting the Grammy, BRIT & Mercury Prize-winning producer Bernard Butler. Speaking on the new track ‘Westway‘, and the decision to release the album’s final song first, singer James McGregor shares:
“We were inspired by the writing and production of ‘50s Doo-wop, Phil Spector and Motown. ‘Westway’ is the album’s final track, so we are beginning the album’s story with the last scene in the same way that some of the great films, like Goodfellas, begin at the end.”
The Clockworks have played at major festivals in the UK, Ireland and Europe including Pukkelpop, Eurosonic, Electric Picnic and The Great Escape. The band have also played at Liverpool’s Sefton Park with Kings of Leon, and completed a run of US dates with Pixies and UK support shows with The Reytons and Inhaler in 2022.
After an extensive tour of the UK at the end of 2022, the band decided to head into the studio to record their first album. This debut album will present a multifaceted band, pushing themselves and exploring the limits of their philosophy. Exit Strategy centres around a protagonist who moves from Galway to London in search of meaning, certain that, as the main character in the film of his own life, the solution lies in changing his surroundings and acting as someone he’s not. The album promises encounters with manipulative bosses, evil ad agencies, a broken pact to flee to Australia, run-ins with the law, cheating boyfriends, drug-fuelled youths, heartache, paranoia, social media anxiety and a drunk singer dressed as Jesus.
Explaining the album’s genesis and cinematic influence, McGregor says:
“We were always sure we wanted the album to be greater than the sum of its parts, so decided to create the world of a film, entitled Exit Strategy. We envisaged the record as a series of snapshots, telling the story of a group of characters trying to navigate through life.”
Hallmarked more by a philosophy than a sound, The Clockworks weave pop sensibilities with noisy, post-punk, rock-influenced stylings. The songs seem swaggering and dark yet often have an epic, nostalgic quality. They sit in poetic introspection beside witty kitchen sink drama to create something intense but playful.
For more information on The Clockworks, including details on ordering the new album please check out their website, Facebook and Instagram.
