WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR
NEW ALBUM ‘EXCUSE ME WHILE I VANISH’ OUT 28TH JULY ON CHRYSALIS RECORDS
UK FESTIVALS & EU SHOWS WITH NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS
PRE-ORDER NEW ALBUM NOW
William The Conqueror will release their new album ‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’ through Chrysalis Records on 28th July. Produced by the band in a playground of vintage gear and mixed by Barny Barnicott (Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, Kasabian), the resulting album’s ten tracks marry earworm tunes with insistent, imperious, soaring rock shapes, punctuated by chorus hooks that are simultaneously nuanced and anthemic. ‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’ is the follow-up to 2021’s critically-acclaimed album, ‘Maverick Thinker’, and will be available on multiple vinyl formats, CD and streaming platforms. William The Conqueror today unveil new track ’Somebody Else’ with an accompanying video filmed at Marshall Studios.
WATCH VIDEO FOR NEW TRACK ‘SOMEBODY ELSE’
LISTEN TO NEW TRACK ‘SOMEBODY ELSE’
“Somebody Else came from a very specific memory of not knowing which version of myself I was supposed to be playing,” explains frontman Ruarri Joseph. “An identity crisis in real-time. It’s so cathartic to play. Harry’s drums absolutely beast along. He has a way of finding that extra gear just when you think it can’t possibly go any higher.”
‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’, very nearly didn’t happen. Following the imposition of lockdown restrictions, Joseph found himself cocooned at home in Cornwall, ruminating on an uncertain creative future, watching on as his wife Mandy, a valiant mental health social worker, engaged with the all-too-real dilemmas of the pandemic-riven here and now. Her example motivated Joseph to become a temporary care worker, an experience which would provide renewed focus and influence the songwriting on the new album.
“My wife was insomniac for the first six months of lockdown, which made it impossible for me to moan or grieve the fact that everything I’d been working on for the last five years had come to a standstill. It was a much-needed perspective and made me realise what a selfish undertaking William had been – navel-gazing with my head in the clouds when what people needed was boots firmly on the ground, preferably on the feet of someone like Mandy.”
William The Conqueror’s fourth album finds the indie-rock trio firing on all cylinders as Joseph confronts the thin line between creativity and madness, inspired by compassion for the real-life angels of the world. Ruarri’s compelling semi-spoken vocals and swamp-blues-Seattle-scuzz guitars are propelled by the rhythm section of Naomi Holmes (bass) and Harry Harding (drums) as ‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’ delivers an effortlessly winning blend of melody and ensemble dynamics, the most accomplished and undeniable William The Conqueror album to date.
PRE-ORDER ‘EXCUSE ME WHILE I VANISH’
William the Conqueror live:
MAY
Thu 11 – The Great Escape – Brighton, UK
Fri 12 – Tunes in the Dunes Festival – Perranporth, UK
Fri 26 – Bearded Theory Festival – Catton Hall, UK
JUNE
Tue 20 – Live Music Hall – Cologne, Germany *
Wed 21- Huxley’s – Berlin, Germany *
Fri 23 – Arena – Vienna, Austria *
Sun 25 – Backstage Werk – Munich, Germany *
Mon 26 – Kaufleuten – Zurich, Switzerland *
Wed 28 – Cabaret Sauvage – Paris, France *
*with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
