After a purple patch of activity on their return last year – a period that saw the release of “Bound”, “Distant Light” , “Open Door” and “Bright Eyes” – Lonely The Brave have returned in 2021 with the triumphant “Keeper“, the last single to be released ahead of their long-awaited third album, “The Hope List”, coming later this month on Easy Life Records (PRE-ORDER HERE).
The band, based as they are between Cambridgeshire, Bristol and West Yorkshire, had to forgo any plans for a traditional music video but, instead, pre-lockdown put together a short documentary about what exactly were their “keepers” from a difficult last year for everyone. Filmed in person in each of the band’s hometowns, it takes a look at the realities for a band releasing during the pandemic, with two members working on the frontline for the NHS (Mo as an ambulance driver and Bush as a nurse on the Covid wards), but also puts a focus on those things we are grateful for and tells the story of how, against the odds, this album came to be.
WATCH THE “KEEPER” DOCUMENTARY HERE
“Keeper” was the first song the band ever wrote with vocalist Jack Bennett. It’s a track that pairs those insistent guitar tones, so distinctive of Lonely The Brave, to an anthemic, immediately memorable chorus. It’s surely one of the strongest songs the band have ever produced.
LISTEN TO “KEEPER” HERE
Bassist Andrew Bushen said the following about “Keeper”:
“Keeper was the first song we fully completed for the album and remains one of our favourites. It will always hold a special place as the beginning of the new chapter.”
On the upcoming “The Hope List”, those new beginnings have been entirely realised. The band’s emotional, widescreen rock sounds as expansive as ever throughout the record’s eleven song run-time but retains an intimacy, this new album an honest reward to the patience and loyalty of a fan base who have stuck by the band during uncertain times.
Founding member Mark Trotter says of the record and the sense of optimism around the band in announcing it:
“Given everything that’s happened to this band, it would have been remiss of us to try rushing into this or do something that wasn’t right. It takes time,” the guitarist reasons. “We’ve been a band for over 10 years and stuck in our ways a lot. There has been a huge shift in dynamic now. It’s a completely different vibe from where we were before. There’s a renewed energy and a renewed focus. Everything feels very positive in the Lonely The Brave camp.”
“The Hope List” is available to pre-order now on limited edition splatter vinyl, standard LP, CD & cassette formats HERE
The band will tour the record in April – with a number of dates already close to selling out, their London headliner was recently upgraded to The Dome:
APRIL 2021
11 • BRIGHTON • HOPE & RUIN – TICKETS
12 • BIRMINGHAM • CASTLE & FALCON – TICKETS
13 • BRISTOL • THE FLEECE – TICKETS
15 • CAMBRIDGE • J2 – TICKETS
16 • MANCHESTER • ACADEMY 3 – TICKETS
17 • GLASGOW • KING TUT’S – TICKETS
19 • LEEDS • THE KEY CLUB – TICKETS
20 • NOTTINGHAM • THE BODEGA – TICKETS
21 • LONDON • THE DOME – TICKETS
