Indie-punk band The Subways have announced they’ve signed to Alcopop! Records as they release a politically-charged new single.
Fight, which is released on April 30, is the first taste of the band’s forthcoming fifth album.
They have also announced rescheduled live dates, after breaking off their UK tour as the pandemic hit last year.
The Subways, from Welwyn Garden City, burst onto the scene in 2005, with debut album Young For Eternity.
BLM-inspired
Fight, their first new music since 2015, was written after guitarist Billy Lunn attended Black Lives Matter marches last summer.
A friend who had never marched or protested before suddenly found the language to express her experience as a black woman, and Lunn saw first-hand the importance of having allies during these moments.
He said: “Fight is a letter in two parts: a gesture of solidarity with the black community and communities of colour, as they face their daily oppression at the hands of systemic racism.
“And it’s a wake-up call to the white community that such oppressions do in fact exist, and that we must acknowledge these oppressions and fight alongside marginalised communities as allies.
Systemic racism
“Though the Black Lives Matter movement has been around since 2013, George Floyd’s murder was a catalyst, and I felt that it required something beyond poetics and abstract references in song,” he said.
“That it took George Floyd’s murder being filmed and distributed online for society-at-large to finally, viscerally comprehend systemic racism’s presence is unacceptable. And I realised my own complicity in this ignorance.
“I therefore felt it crucial that the band’s first offering from the new album be a necessary use of our privileged platform.”
Fight is The Subways’ first release without longtime member Josh Morgan, who left in October, after completing studio sessions.
The single will be available on 7in vinyl with a variety of bundle options, and comes with an exclusive political activism ‘zine created by the band.
It includes advice on how fans can engage, inform, and mobilise on some of today’s most pressing political issues.
The B-side features an exclusive interview by Lunn and bassist Charlotte Cooper with UK rock duo Nova Twins.
Hit singles
Formed in 2002, The Subways have had a string of hit singles including Rock & Roll Queen, Oh Yeah and Girls & Boys.
They’ve toured with AC/DC, Foo Fighters and Oasis, and appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman and Late Night With Conan O’Brien.
They have also played the main stages of Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Lollapalooza, Download, Soundwave, Hurricane, Rock Am Ring and more.
Always evolving and innovating with each new stage of their career, this latest iteration of the band is no different.
The Subways will resume their Young For Eternity 15th anniversary dates with labelmates Art Brut this autumn.
The Subways’ Rescheduled Young For Eternity Tour Dates with Art Brut
23 Sept – Norwich – The Waterfront
24 Sept – Birmingham – O2 Institute
25 Sept – London – O2 Forum Kentish
30 Sept – Nottingham – Rock City
1 Oct – Bristol – O2 Academy
2 Oct – Portsmouth – Wedgewood Rooms
3 Oct – Portsmouth – Wedgewood Rooms
Tickets are on sale from The Subways’ website HERE.
