• News

• All

Sep 25, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Jamie Adair Hayden Thorpe

Hayden Thorpe, formerly the singer for British art-rockers Wild Beasts, has announced a new EP, Aerial Songs, and shared its first single, “Blue Crow.” Aerial Songs is due out October 16 via Domino. Check out “Blue Crow” below, followed by the EP’s tracklist and cover art.

Thorpe wrote and self-produced Aerial Songs, which features additional production work from Nathan Jenkins (aka Bullion), Richard Formby, and Fabian Prynn. The songs are inspired by Thorpe’s native Lake District area of England and were composed during his time as artist in residence at Aerial Festival.

Thorpe had this to say in a press release: “Since my first broody teenage attempts to make music and beyond into gradually becoming an adult concerned with making decent music, I’ve found the prospect of making work about the Lake District an off-puttingly daunting task. I’ve always felt ill equipped to even nearly match the enchantment of being within the fells.

“I wouldn’t say I’m any better prepared now, it might just be that I can perhaps more precisely distil the vital affirmation I feel in the mountains. Maybe it is that I am, by now, far enough away from the blast radius of a frustrated rural youth shit show to get clear headed and attempt it.”

Thorpe released his debut solo album, Diviner, in May 2019 via Domino (stream it here). In September 2019, Thorpe shared a brand new song, “Full Beam,” that was recorded during the sessions for Diviner but didn’t make the final tracklist (it was one of our Songs of the Week). In May, Thorpe and Hot Chip founding member Joe Goddard teamed up for a new single, “Unknown Song,” which was also one of our Songs of the Week.

Read our interview with Hayden Thorpe on Diviner.

Read our Self-Portrait feature with Hayden Thorpe.

In 2017 Wild Beasts announced their breakup in a typed up statement, signed by the band and posted to Instagram. That was followed by a final EP, Punk Drunk and Trembling, three farewell concerts in February 2018, and a final album, February 2018’s live in the studio release Last Night All My Dreams Came True (which featured new interpretations of songs from across their catalogue).

Read our 2018 interview with Hayden Thorpe about the breakup of Wild Beasts and the band’s legacy.

Aerial Songs EP Tracklist:

1. Blue Crow
2. Head on a Platter
3. Set It Loose

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.