Razorlight have today (June 17) returned with a punky new single, ‘Call Me Junior’ – check it out below.
Released via Atlantic Culture Records/Absolute, the new track sees the return of the original line up of the band – made up of Johnny Borrell, Andy Burrows, Björn Ågren, and Carl Dalemo – following a 10-year hiatus.
Borrell, Ågren and Dalemo first formed the band in 2002, with Burrows joining in 2004. Together, the quartet released three studio albums (2004 debut ‘Up All Night’, 2006’s self-titled follow-up and 2008’s ‘Slipway Fires’).
Produced by Borrell, the new single was recorded straight to tape and was written amidst the pandemic restrictions. It came out of a Skype writing session between the frontman and Burrows, as noted in a press release.
Borrell said of the song: “I had dreamt something, and Andy sent me a very rough voice note. I fused the 2 ideas together and we kind of had a song.”
He continued: “It’s a funny thing rediscovering Razorlight; normally when writing, you find yourself thinking ‘this sounds kinda Bowie-ish or Stones-ish or Prince-ish etc – that’s cool lets do that’, but with getting back into an old writing partnership you start going ‘Oh that sounds really Razorlight-ish, cool lets do that.’ It’s great to be recording again, great to be producing and great to have the band back together. It’s a unique sound these 4 people make.”
Burrows added: “I rang Johnny, played some chords and a bit of melody that I had, down the phone, the next day I walked into the studio, and he was sat at the piano playing this finished song…as soon as we played it together with the band, it clicked.
“An instant rocker, like an old friend. We wanted to put something out ourselves, before we play live shows this summer, and this seemed like the perfect fit.”
Earlier this year, Razorlight confirmed that they’d been in the studio working on a new album.
“Greetings from 2022, here we are in Gloucestershire working hard on Razor album 5,” the band tweeted alongside a pair of photos taken outside a studio.
Speaking about the reunion last year, Burrows said: “It feels incredible. We’ve spent the past week or two rehearsing. Playing these songs has been an absolute joy. The emotions that were going through me when we started playing ‘America’, I forgot to play the first half of the song – it was totally nuts. It’s been amazing. It’s so powerful playing these old tunes. It’s very very special.”
Borrell added: “I’m really enjoying reconnecting with Andy and Carl, it’s like getting to know people again. I’m enjoying it because you never want to lose friends. It’s a horrible thing to think. It doesn’t really make sense. It definitely feels good to me on a personal level.
“On a creative level – amazing. We’ve been in the studio rehearsing and recording. As soon as the four of us are in the room, it just sounds amazing, straight away.”
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