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Sep 13, 2018 By Charles Steinberg We Were Promised Jetpacks

The return of impassioned Scottish rockers We Were Promised Jetpacks feels like reuniting with a band you can now say you’ve grown up with and the growth has been mutual. They’ve been described as “a high school band that never stopped” but now it’s as though they’ve returned from study abroad and the nature of the dialogue is more sophisticated, more measured.

We Were Promised Jetpacks is back with the new album, The More I Sleep the Less I Dream, out September 14th. Ahead of the self-released album in the U.S. and on Big Scary Monsters in Europe, Under the Radar is thrilled to present the exclusive full album premiere.

Going back to basics in order to find yourself again was the theme for their fourth full-length album, which follows 2014’s Unravelling. This began with the band going back to the foundation of the original four members—Adam Thompson, Michael Palmer, Sean Smith, and Darren Lackie. After touring 2014’s Unravelling, which like all of their tours over the years was a full-on siege, the band took some We time, returning to native Scotland to regenerate the skin that had worn a bit thin and to refocus with family and old friends. It was the longest continuous duration back home in Scotland the since the band started. “There was no external pressure but we put pressure on ourselves to try and keep things going,” recalls guitarist Michael Palmer. “But the ultimate pressure we put on ourselves was ‘make this something good.’”

They met up regularly and wrote constantly at their rehearsal space in Leith, Edinburgh for two years, making sure they knew all of their songs inside out. Every single detail of everyone’s parts poured over, refined, built on. After making their prior albums in England, Scotland, and Iceland, it felt like a good opportunity to try crafting songs in the U.S. The album was recorded over the course of five weeks at Minor Street in Philadelphia and Long Pond in New York’s Hudson Valley in early 2018. Palmer describes this as being stress-free. “I don’t want to say it was relaxing or chilled or anything because we worked extremely hard,” he says. “But we knew what we were doing this time and we were able to just get shit done without second-guessing ourselves, or panicking that it wouldn’t turn out right. For the first time, we went into the studio with confidence and a plan.”

For the recording, the band connected with producer Jonathan Low (The National, Sufjan Stevens, Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs) and were inspired by his approach to their vision and his grounded style, helping the musicians keep each song simple and minimal. “Jon was totally onboard with us only adding things that underlined what we wrote together in the rehearsal space. We wanted it to sound like it was alive and he really helped us realize that,” says Thompson.

There’s a distinct room to breathe for all the songs on The More I Sleep the Less I Dream. “When writing we tried to limit the songs to what we could create in the room,” says Palmer. “For the last record we’d fall back on, ‘well in the studio we’ll add something there so it’ll sound good,’ and we didn’t want to do that anymore. But instead of putting pressure on everyone to get their parts right, it ended up being really invigorating. It left room to breathe as you say, and also meant that everyone had room to do interesting things. And once we had that, Jon did a great, great job of making the album sound like a proper record and not a demo. He’s very good, that guy.”

Bands like Explosions in the Sky and Radiohead were touchstones for the new record along with the inspiration the band gleaned from one another. “The album is so much about us going back to our basics and relying on our instincts,” says Palmer. “There’s a range of songs that span everything we do as a band, and we’re the connection between them. It feels like this album is us.”

Pre-order The More I Sleep the Less I Dream: www.wewerepromisedjetpacks.com/store/

We Were Promised Jetpacks Tour Dates:

09.19 - Portland, ME @ Portland City Music Hall *
09.20 - Porstmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace *
09.21 - Montreal, QC @ Bar Le “Ritz” P.D.B.
09.22 - Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
09.23 - Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig #
09.25 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall #
09.26 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall #
09.27 - Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater #
09.28 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club #
09.29 - Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
10.01 - Billings, MT @ The Pub Station
10.02 - Spokane, WA @ The Bartlett ~
10.03 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos ^
10.04 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom ~
10.05 - Bellingham, WA @ The Wild Buffalo ~
10.06 - Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall ~
10.08 - Chico, CA @ The Big Room #
10.09 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall #
10.11 - Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre #
10.12 - San Diego, CA @ Irenic #
10.13 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom #
10.15 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
10.16 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk
10.17 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
10.18 - New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues - The Parish
10.19 - Chattanooga, TN @ Songbirds
10.20 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
10.22 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
10.23 - Washington, DC @ 930 Club
10.24 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
10.26 - Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
10.27 - Philadelphia, PA @ Foundry
10.28 - Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club
10.29 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
11.14 - Aberdeen, UK @ The Lemon Tree
11.15 - Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s
11.17 - Edinburgh, UK @ Old Dr Bells Bath
11.18 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
11.19 - Manchester, UK @ The Deaf Institute
11.21 - London, UK @ Bush Hall
11.22 - Luxembourg City, LU @ Rotondes
11.24 - Berlin, DE @ Lido
11.26 - Vienna, AT @ Chelsea
11.27 - Graz, AT @ Orpheum Gratz
11.28 - Maxvorstadt, DE @ Muffatwerk
11.29 - Heidelberg, DE @ Karlstorbahnhof
11.30 - Cologne, DE @ Luxor
12.01 - Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet

* with Worriers
~ with Cumulus
# with Jenn Champion