THE XCERTS SHARE NEW ALBUM “I THINK I WANT TO GO HOME NOW.”
OUT NOW VIA FLG RECORDS
WATCH VIDEO FOR ALBUM HIGHLIGHT “SINKING FEELING” HERE
The XCERTS by Luke Boville
The XCERTS have today released their sixth studio album, i think i want to go home now., via FLG Records. Recorded by Larry Hibbitt at Beehive Studios, the eleven-track record was written by all three members together in a room, something the Aberdeen-formed, Brighton-based trio had not done since their early records, and documents two years of genuine turbulence, including the passing of bassist Jordan Smith’s mother and vocalist Murray Macleod’s father’s cancer diagnosis.
Listen to i think i want to go home now. HERE
Watch video to album highlight “sinking feeling” HERE
Formed in 2001, Macleod, Smith and drummer Tom Heron have remained an unchanged line-up ever since, a rare consistency that underpins more than two decades of work as one of the UK’s most emotionally resonant alternative bands. Where 2023’s Learning How to Live and Let Go saw the band exploring more polished, pop-leaning textures, i think i want to go home now. marks a return to the raw urgency of early releases In The Cold Wind We Smile, Scatterbrain and There Is Only You, while carrying the melodic clarity the band have earned since. The songs move between the frenetic self-examination of opener “do it to myself”, the fuzzed-out anger of “pretty ugly”, the tough love of “bury you” and the closing, touching “in your eyes”.
Speaking on the album, Macleod says: “It was really time for us to band together and celebrate our friendship. We’re so proud that we’re still doing this, because we started the band 23 years ago. It’s astonishing really. This really is the purest Xcerts record there’s been since the first one. We dug really deep to discover what the defining sound of our band is and bled it all out.”
There are notable parallels to the band’s 2009 debut. Smith had lost his father before that record was made, and Macleod had gone through a devastating break-up; the band have found it hard not to draw comparisons between then and now, without letting those comparisons undermine the weight of these latest experiences.
To mark the release, The XCERTS will play a run of in-store shows across the UK through July, as well as a full album playthrough set at 2000 Trees Festival and a run of support dates with Twin Atlantic in October.
The XCERTS live
13th July – Leeds – Crash Records (in-store show)
14th July – Liverpool – Jacaranda (in-store show)
15th July – Glasgow – Assai (in-store show, 1pm)
15th July – Edinburgh – Assai (in-store show, 5:30pm)
16th July – Aberdeen – Assai (in-store show)
1st August – Arbroath Music and Food Festival
16th October – Leeds – Stylus ^
17th October – Birmingham – O2 Institute 2 ^
18th October – Newcastle – Boiler Shop ^
20th October – London – Islington Assembly Hall ^
21st October – Manchester – Gorilla ^
22nd October – Glasgow – SWG3 Galvanizers ^
^ in support of Twin Atlantic
i think i want to go home now. album artwork
