Teenage Fanclub will return to Australia in March performing their first live shows down under since 2019.
The renowned Glasgow five-piece – led by founding members Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley, with drummer Francis Macdonald, bassist Dave McGowan and keyboardist Euros Childs – will perform in Byron Bay on Tuesday, 12 March. The tour celebrates the band’s upcoming 12th studio album, Nothing Lasts Forever – set for release in September.
A rare thing, Teenage Fanclub are one of Britain’s most beloved cult outfits, with a career spanning three decades and fervent fans growing up alongside them. Ever since their formation in 1989, the band’s esteemed discography has soundtracked many a life: from the early ‘90s era-defining Bandwagonesque to albums such as Thirteen, Grand Prix, Songs From Northern Britain, Howdy!, Man-Made, Shadows, Here and Endless Arcade and more.
With music recorded in an intense ten-day period in the bucolic Welsh countryside at Monmouth’s Rockfield Studios, one of the recurring themes of their latest release, Nothing Lasts Forever, is light, as both a metaphor for hope and as an ultimate destination further down the road. You can hear the effect of that environment on the band’s new record – it’s full of soft breeze, wide skies, beauty and space.
‘We never talk about what we’re going to do before we start making a record,’ says Raymond McGinley of the forthcoming release. ‘The record feels reflective, and I think the more we do this thing, the more we become comfortable with going to that place of melancholy and expressing those feelings.’
‘These songs are definitely personal,’ says Norman Blake. ‘You’re getting older, you’re going into the cupboard getting the black suit out more often. Thoughts of mortality and the idea of the light must have been playing on our minds a lot … when we write, it’s a reflection of our lives.’
Looking for positives while faced with the grim realities of the 21st century feels very Teenage Fanclub – a band who can effortlessly turn melancholy into glorious, chiming harmony. Selling out shows across the country on their 2019 headline tour, don’t miss the incredible Teenage Fanclub – become an any-age fan on Tuesday at The Northern. Tickets from tickets.oztix.com.au.
