Buzzard Buzzard BuzzardSkinwalker
DATA
Label
Communion Records
Format
CD/LP/Digital
Release Date
April 12, 2024
Territory
Europe
TRACKLISTING
1. Intro
2. National Rust
3. Chew
4. My Star Sign Is A Basset Hound
5. Sugar Sandwich
6. The Drowning Bell
7. Leatherbound
8. In My Egg
9. Therapy
10. Human Compression
11. Night Of The Skinwalker
ABOUT THE RELEASE
Showcasing a heavier, more disquieting sound than anything the band have released to date, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard return with new album ‘Skinwalker‘, which creeps along the borders between metal, psych, and glam rock. Following on from their Welsh Music Prize nominated debut ‘Backhand Deals’ in 2022, the band wrote and recorded ‘Skinwalker‘ at frontman and producer Tom Rees‘s Rat Trap studio, the room where Rees has previously recorded and produced tracks for emerging talent – Panic Shack, Do Nothing and The Bug Club.
This darker sound and aesthetic take inspiration from found-footage horror and the Navajo concept of the Skinwalker – a legendary malevolent shapeshifter – from which the album takes its name. Thematically, each track on the record is designed to take you through descending floors of Rees’s mind each becoming more horrific than the last with the Skinwalker at the final floor, representing his inner fears, self-sabotage, hatred, and self-doubt. It’s a deeply intimate record of self-analysis and personal growth told through heavy fuzz-drenched guitars, a crushing rhythm section, and fevered vocals.
The band still carry that same the fast-paced energy and subtle trademark ‘70s references from their earlier releases though, and this is particularly evident on the danceable, indie-funk inflected new single “National Rust”. Speaking on the single Rees says, “‘National Rust’ was my attempt at consolidating my 2020 obsession with Sly and the Family Stone with my 2021 obsession with David Bowie’s album ‘Low’. It was the first song that really paved the way for the new album, it broke a lot of the sonic boundaries that I was writing within when starting the second album, “I AM NOT AFRAID OF PLAYING FUNKY GUITAR!”, I exclaimed, mu-tron in hand.
Lyrically, it made a statement that informed my songwriting moving forward as well, being a flagrant rejection of my previous political song writing, and an admission of alienation amongst a plethora of information. ‘National Rust’ acts as a bridge between my younger, more political perspective, and my more recent, more apathetic one.”
Elsewhere on the record, the harmony-filled “In My Egg” sees Rees sing about the struggles to force yourself out of your comfort zone, whilst “Human Compression” see the band delve into an almost desert-rock sound with hazy, unrelenting guitar work supporting Rees’s lyrics about the pressure he puts on himself. The psychedelic glam-tinged “Night Of The Skinwalker” – a song which centres around his struggles with self-doubt- marks the albums opus, melding a number of styles and genres across almost six minutes.
Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard – Rees, guitarist Zac White, drummer Ethan Hurst and Rees’ brother and bassist Eddie – have been going from strength-to-strength since releasing their debut EP “The Non-Stop” in 2020. They’ve since made of end-of-year lists with NME, DIY, and Dork; earned plaudits from the likes of the Guardian, The Telegraph, MOJO, Uncut, Record Collector, The Needle Drop, The Independent, CLASH, The Line Of Best Fit, and So Young; and have amassed significant radio support with plays across worldwide radio, and live session appearances across BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, NPR, Radio X, and more.
The band’s frenetic live sets have seen the band make fans in tourmates from The Magic Gang to Miles Kane and were set to support Noel Gallagher – another in a growing list of fans – at the Royal Albert Hall before the coronavirus struck. They’ve also performed widely across thefestival circuit appearing at Glastonbury, Eurosonic, Latitude, All Points East, SXSW, and Green Man, and have toured extensively including a packed-out headline date at Scala. The band will go out on tour again next March hitting 16-dates across the UK where the band will continue to debut new material.
COVER
