The Utopiates - The Sun Also Rises

London-based outfit The Utopiates are set to release their debut album ‘The Sun Also Rises’ on the 5th May via V2 Records.

Image and artwork courtesy of V2 Records.

Over recent years, the band’s live shows have been mesmeric, but their desire really grabbed audiences’ attention. A sheer will to succeed was omnipresent, a sense that their time is now was always at the forefront of everything.

Where many bands fail to translate their live power in the studio The Utopiates have succeeded on  ‘Seekers’, ‘Making History’, and ‘It’s Coming For You’ as the band serves up their destiny with serious mass appeal. ‘Seekers’ spirals heavenly with the vastness of ‘Second Coming’ but the anticipation generated is all firmly 1989’s. The military-esque drums and melodic keys create the sense of “coming up” that the album rarely pivots far from. Lead guitarist Josh Redding’s Hendrix and Squire licks forge breathtaking sunsets that unite the classes of ’88, ’92, and the current DMAs generation can unite behind. Political change may loiter in 2024, but culturally, The Utopiates are defining the epoch shift right here, right now!

In recent years, rock ‘n’ roll has fallen by the wayside. Plenty of promise, but a failure to deliver a generation-unifying album. The fashion, the sound, and the polemic felt too indebted to yesteryear. The Utopiates’ however, have found the path which links the broad brushstrokes of New Order’s ‘love’ and Oasis’ swagger with defiant punk and coming-of-age lyrics. Bullish and oozing togetherness and unwavering confidence, ‘Making History’ binds the bucket hats and Doc Martens types with their Oasis-tinged rhetoric:

“One day you’ll see, yeah they’ll look at me, I’m not up here making tunes, I’m making history!”

Ed Godshaw’s keys look to the Inspiral Carpets’ ‘Life’ and Black Grape’s debut, Redding has the showmanship of Prince, whilst Popplewell’s vocal nods to Dave Gahan. Collectively, the destiny they illuminate feels ginormous, but always within their grasp. Meanwhile, on ‘It’s Coming For You’, the hedonism of the Roses’ ‘Tightrope’, ‘Tears’, and ‘How Do You Sleep’ is taken into the mire by Popplewell’s steel and Redding’s heavy guitars. They encapsulate their struggle to escape the lives most of us lead and hate. As Redding’s guitars take flight, Cream’s ‘Disraeli Gears’ dances into view- but with the financial and social burden of the 20s hanging around its neck, rather than the hallucinogenic freedom of the 60s.

Most fledgling bands wear their influences on their sleeves; The Utopiates wear them on a trip. ‘Sick Love’ slips into the post-MDMA rush, with its free-flowing easy-riding soul of Morcheeba and Richard Hawley and Duane Eddy guitars. Whereas ‘Ups and Downs’ takes you right to the heart of a rush, with its nod to Asha JJ’s ‘Tribute’. It’s the acid house-infused anthem Serge Pizzorno has dreamt of making for a decade. ‘Midas Touch’ delves gloriously into the wonk of Happy Mondays’ ‘Wrote For Luck’ on a comedown. Spaced out and expansive, they conjure a blissful sonic for eyes to roll back to.

The album culminates in two places. ‘Only Human’ and ‘Best and Worst Days’, both former singles, light up an already fine album for very different reasons. ‘Only Human’ is the stop-everything moment! Like ‘Live Forever’, ‘Last Night’, and ‘Lay Down’, it pulls from the greats and spits out something new for the world to clutch to its hearts. Depeche Mode’s darkness; Marr’s expressiveness; EMF’s soul; New Fast Automatic Daffodils groove and Prince’s star power are forged into something near perfect, as The Utopiates propel themselves towards greatness.

‘Best and Worst Days’ is a different animal. More universal and polished, it’s classic songwriting that should straddle indie and corporate radio stations alike. The shimmering acoustic guitars of ‘Kinky Afro’ and the chilled sunset beats of ‘Dennis and Lois’ chime gloriously in the intro of this tale of looking back. Popplewell’s ability to bring influences into his indie-soul vocal continue. He softens his snarl to allow Bernard Sumner and Danny Wilson nodes in. It adds to the sense of self-reflection permeating throughout. But, in the closing moments, he turns on his raw power to say goodbye to his younger self.  

They’ve taken the classic rock ‘n’ roll adage of “you have to go there to comeback” and juxtaposed it with their archetypal trippy sound. It’s an astonishingly open ode to their early twenties. Nights of excess, relationship failure, and letting people down are examined from a wiser perspective. It’s the latter that gives the track’s lyrics brevity the sonic deserves. Without the protagonists understanding that it’s made them who they are, a Cobain nihilistic nightmare would be looming. No matter the torment of the discourse, through Ed Godhsaw’s keys, the single finds a way to cruise effortlessly to the sun. He’s lifted The Horror’s distressed seaside sonic of ‘Primary Colours’ out of its despair and with ecstasy and New Order.

Whether you’re coming of age or finding a new lease on life, The Utopiates are the band to soundtrack it. From ‘Devolution’ to ‘It’s Coming To You’ they clutch onto hope with their fingernails as their sonic tumbles towards the darkness. Like all great bands before them, they find a way to lead the mortals out of their doldrums. During the introspection of ‘The Sun Also Rises’ the fog begins to lift allowing the rhapsodic ‘Ups and Downs’ conjures a moment of unrivalled happiness. The journey to their promised land is completed on the angelic reflective come-down piece ‘Simple Minds’.

Undeterred by Spotify’s influences, they take their time on intros and solos alike. They’ve allowed rock ‘n’ roll to breathe once more. The results are nothing short of a perfect debut album.

‘The Sun Also Rises’ is available for pre-order here: https://merch.theutopiates.com/products/the-sun-also-rises-album-pre-sale. Click the image below for tickets to their upcoming tour:

The Utopiates – Ups and Downs

London-based The Utopiates release the last single before their debut album ‘The Sun Also Rises comes out May 5th via V2 Records. ‘Ups and Downs’, released today follows the bombastic ‘Making History’, can it stand up to its quality?

Artwork and images courtesy of the band.

Former single ‘Best and Worst Days’ was a timeless piece of songwriting that waved goodbye to their early 20s and debauched weekenders. ‘Ups and Downs’ however lands them in the heart of those heady days with rave culture at its heart.

On ‘Illumanise’, ‘Devolution’, and ‘Making History’ a love of dance music has been creeping into their work, and here they let go completely and launch into a rave classic. Keyboardist Ed Godshaw taps into the looping pianos Asha JJ’s rave classic ‘Tribute’ which sends everything heavenwards. Keeping it there is Dan Poppelwell’s mesmerising vocal. Steely and always melodic, he carries the weight of our world on his shoulders with ease as he leads us back to the promised land.

In Josh Redding, The Utopiates may possess a generational talent on guitar. Here though, he steps back from his axe to allow their instinctive love of rave to take precedence. It harks back to Primal Scream’s ‘Screamadelica’ and Bobby Gillespie knowing when his time was in the shadows. The selflessness becomes as uplifting as the track itself.

Click the image below for tickets to their upcoming tour:

The Utopiates – Making History

London-based The Utopiates are on the road to their debut album release this May. A key stop-off is their latest single ‘Making History’ released last Friday via V2 Records.

Images and artwork courtesy of the band.

Last time out on ‘Illumanise’, their free-flowing edges sharpened on their Bowie meets Black Grape trip. It also kicked off their lyrical foray into the statement of intent territory which ‘Making History’ has doubled down on.

Frontman Dan Popplewell’s lyrics deftly reference Noel Gallagher’s Knebworth entrance (“I’m not up here making tunes I’m making history”) and Oasis’ live album ‘Familiar To Millions’ (“This music, I use it to ease my soul / And there’s millions familiar, it’s rock and roll”) as he lays bare the bands desire to succeed.

Whilst the Burnage boys had the songs and, their confidence was obviously in-built, they were however financially backed by Creation Records and latterly Sony. Despite being signed to V2, the precarious state of the music industry can ill afford three trips to Rockfields to get their sound right. The urgency, the desperate need to pull this off shines through everything here. Luke Nottingham’s bassline, as funked up as their previous work is more intense, directly burrowing its way to your soul whilst Popllewell’s vocals are set to attack mode! Meanwhile, Ed Godshaw takes the pop immediacy of Clint Boon’s keys out for a joyride with New Fast Automatic Daffodils climbing majesty.

Even Josh Redding’s penchant for meandering Hendrix and Squire solos has its foot on the accelerator. His solos, so often mid-rush pieces of bliss have transformed into a rabid elapsing moment of technicolour destruction.

Far less quality has risen to the top in recent months. With The Utopiates debut album on the horizon, the UK will finally have bona fide genius and independent spirit alike on top once again!

Click the image for tickets to their upcoming tour: