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Astraea (album)

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Rolo Tomassi's third studio album is planned to be released in October 2012 in the United Kingdom through Destination Moon, the band's own record label. The band commonly described the composition of the album as being much more accessible and direct than their previous albums, while retaining the technical and experimental elements of their typical sound. The album was produced by Jason Sanderson, the producer of Rolo Tomassi's first album Hysterics. This is the band's first release with Chris Cayford and Nathan Fairweather in their line-up after the departure of Joseph Thorpe and Joe Nicholson, who both left in February 2012.

Background

Rolo Tomassi only did a one short tour of the United Kingdom in 2011. They spent all the year preparing for their new album and the creation of Destination Moon, the band's own record label. They released a compilation CD, Eternal Youth in mid 2011 to compile all work they had done on split eps, demos and out of print extended plays. When asked about leaving hassle to form their own record label the band stated "We were questioning what we were doing for our label that we couldn't do ourselves. We've always been very proactive with the running of our band and we've never given away much freedom."[1]

The band announced in early February 2012 that both Joseph Thorpe and Joe Nicholson had left the band. This was because Joe Nicholson wanted to go to University and get a degree in chemistry, while Joe Thorpe reasons were more to do with personal differences. The band replaced both with Chris Cayford formerly of No Coast and Nathan Fairweather who played for Brontide.[1] Making this the first release with the new line-up.

In early February 2012 Rolo Tomassi announced the release of a new single: "Old Mystics". The single was uploaded to the band's Facebook profile to stream for free. They released the single on 26 March.[2] The band announced a few days after releasing Old Mystics for streaming that it will most likely not appear on the new album and will just be a stand alone single.[1]

Writing and recording

Writing for the album started as early as July 2011, James Spence also had stated that in this period the band have at least two songs written with the lyrics being self reflective, a common theme for the band's music.[3] Around this time as well Rolo Tomassi expressed interest in working with Anthony Gonzalez or Kurt Ballou respectively of M83 and Converge as producers for the third album. However at the time progress had not come far enough for them to search for producers.[4]

In January 2012, in an interview with Kerrang!, Eva Spence confirmed that the band are self-producing their third full-length with Hysterics producer Jason Sanderson. Regarding the sound of the album, she stated that it will be "more direct and heavier", but also noted that the band "will never shy away from being experimental".[5]

In April 2012, the NME did a studio update with Rolo Tomassi with Keyboardist James Spence stating that the bands music was "70% complete". He credited how the new members Chris and Nathan "breathed new life" into the band's writing as the original three members were "too set in their ways".[6]

The band started recording the album in June.[6]

Style and themes

It's a lot more direct, 'Cosmology' had to be listened to a few times to be digested, whereas this is hard hitting straight away and much more immediate. We've built on the more melodic bits and I wanted to give Eva more of a chance to bring in her clean vocals. I hope it's the kind of record that people who were already into our band still like, but also brings new people in who haven't got into us before.

James Spence in a interview in 2012.[1]

Lyrically, Eva Spence credited on how the album lyrically was a lot more positive than previous albums due to having time off between tours and being able to relax in the writing process. "I feel happier than I have done in the past few years. I'm seeing things in a positive light and I hope the lyrics will be more uplifting"[5] In an interview with James Spence about the early writing process and how how the lyrics have a essence of self reflection as a common theme in the band's work "it's not something people normally look at or focus on; self-reflection as a theme, but if you ignore what's happening to you and how it's making you think about things then I don't think that's good."[3]

When Eva Spence has been asked about the albums musical approach is much more 'hard-hitting' and 'more direct' than previous albums. She was quoted saying that the album is much more accessible than their previous albums: "You can get your teeth into it much quicker, people who didn't have patience before with our music before will be into this record. It's still technical, but we're using the mathy bits more sparingly."[6]

Release and promotion

Initially announced through Kerrang! Magazine that the album was expected to be released in May.[5] But the album was then declared as being released in October.[7]

Rolo Tomassi completed their first tour of the year as the main support for Architects on a 14 date UK tour in April.[8] They used this tour to promote their new single "Old Mystics" as well as debut other unrecorded new material from the album,[7] such as songs like Howl and Remancer.[9] Rolo Tomassi presence on the tour was met with positive reception, however reviewers believed the band's music was too aggresive and chaotic for fans of Architects.[10] Tim Sewell when writing for The Courier Online said that: "it was apparent that much of the crowd (mostly Architects fans) were left a little confused by singer/shewolf Eva Spence, who flung herself about in front of them screaming."[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Rolo Tomassi promise a 'hard-hitting' and 'more direct' third album". NME. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  2. ^ "Rolo Tomassi Unveil New Track Old Mystics', Announce New Members". This Is Fake DIY. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  3. ^ a b Nico Davidson (27 July 2011). "Interview: Rolo Tomassi Sonisphere 2011". Sound Sphere Magazine. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Rolo Tomassi at Sonisphere: 'We'd love to make a record with M83 or Converge'". NME. 9 July 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  5. ^ a b c James McMahon, ed. (January 14, 2012). "In the studio special - Rolo Tomassi". Kerrang! (1397). Bauer Media Group: page07. ISSN 0262-6624. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ a b c "Rolo Tomassi on their line-up changes: 'We'd become too set in our ways'". NME. IPC Media. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b Daniel Cliffe (22 April 2012). "Rolo Tomassi - Nottingham Culture". leftlion.co.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
  8. ^ "Architects and Rolo Tomassi announce UK headline tour". NME. January 9, 201. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  9. ^ Colin Henderson (18 April 2012). "Architects / Rolo Tomassi / Stray from the Path". Hevypedal. Retrieved 17 July 2012. New songs Howl and Remancer go down a treat and fans are given an insight into how the new album will sound. If you thought the band couldn't get anymore avant-garde then you're wrong
  10. ^ a b Tim Sewell (16 April 2012). "Live Review: Architects". The Courier Online. Newcastle University. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
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