London post-punk quartet TV Priest have announced their debut album Uppers, out on Nov. 13 via Hand In Hive. The band has only released three tracks to date, including their album’s lead single, “This Island,” which drops today. Their two previous songs “House of York” and “Runner Up” were released earlier this year, but won’t be included on the album.
“This Island” refers to echo chambers of harmful beliefs that disenfranchised people often find themselves in. While the phenomenon is both surreal and seemingly outrageous, there’s also something depressing about the misplaced hopes and fears of these people, and TV Priest cover these angles quite well. Though their brand of Fall-influenced post-punk is far too easy to come across these days, their delivery, presence and songwriting skills more than justify their existence. “This Island” is a densely packed ball of energy, and their occasional spillovers of momentum are exhilarating. Their closing guitar crescendo and Protomartyr-esque vocals are positively unhinged.
Frontman Charlie Drinkwater says of the new song:
“This Island” is about incoherence and inarticulate responses, both personal and political, in a time and place you don’t fully understand anymore. It’s an unrequited love letter, and a howl of frustration; a mea culpa and a call to arms. We wrote this to an increasingly nationalistic and isolationist drum beat playing out at home and abroad, and frankly we are scared and appalled. As artists we aren’t offering up solutions for living, but maybe we can extend a hand and let someone know that you aren’t alone in feeling under prepared in your responses yet powerful in your convictions. That small boats can still make big waves. That we have a world to win.
The album was self-produced by the band’s own bassist Nic Smith. TV Priest have only played one live show to date, which was back in November, and they had additional shows canceled due to COVID-19. As of now, they have upcoming U.K. live dates in October.
Listen to “This Island” below, and preorder Uppers here. Scroll down to view the album art and tracklist.
Uppers Album Artwork:
Uppers Tracklist:
01. The Big Curve
02. Press Gang
03. Leg Room
04. Journal Of a Plague Year
05. History Week
06. Decoration
07. Slideshow
08. Fathers And Sons
09. The ref
10. Powers of Ten
11. This Island
12. Saintless
