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Feb 22, 2023 By Mark Redfern

Britpop band The Boo Radleys are releasing a new album, Eight, on June 9 via the band’s own Boostr label. Now they have shared its second single, “The Unconscious.” Listen below, followed by the band’s upcoming UK tour dates, including some newly announced fall shows.

Co-songwriter and lead singer Sice had this to say about the song in a press release: “It started with a ska riff and nothing else. The idea was to let it grow without restriction… kind of like opening the unconscious. Lyrically, it details my two-year psychoanalysis, which did not end well.”

Bassist and co-songwriter Tim Brown adds: “A disco/dub mash up? Brass solo? The song certainly took a few unexpected musical turns on the journey to reaching its final form. Thumping drums and bass drive the song along. Backing vocals lift the bridges, and overlay the choruses.”

Previously The Boo Radleys shared Eight’s first single, “Seeker,” via a music video.

The fittingly titled Eight is the band’s eighth album and the quick follow-up to 2022’s Keep On With Falling, which was The Boo Radleys’ first studio album in over 23 years.

Sice said in a previous press release that the songs of Eight were recorded “purposefully to appear together on an album” and that “there is also a greater depth of integration, which means that it’s more difficult to tell which member of the band the song originated with.”

This year, the band are also putting out a 30th anniversary of their 1993 album Giant Steps.

The current lineup doesn’t feature founding guitarist/songwriter Martin Carr, but original members Sice (aka Simon Rowbottom, guitar/vocals), Tim Brown (bass/guitar/keyboards), and Rob Cieka (drums) all returned.

Prior to their 2022 releases, The Boo Radleys, named after a character in To Kill a Mockingbird, last released music with their underrated final album, 1998’s Kingsize. The band had formed a decade earlier, in 1988, releasing their first album, Ichabod and I, in 1990. The band released the rest of their albums on the iconic Creation Records and found critical success with their third album, 1993’s Giant Steps. Initially they were associated with the shoegaze movement, but fans of Britpop embraced them, in part due to their upbeat single “Wake Up! Boo,” which made it to #9 on the UK singles chart in 1995. Also in 1995 they hit #1 on the UK album charts with their fourth album, Wake Up!. Such mainstream success was a bit short-lived—1996’s C’mon Kids made it to #20 on the UK album charts, but Kingsize only got as high as 62. The band split up in early 1999. Carr went on to release several albums as Bravecaptain.

The Boo Radleys UK Tour Dates:

Tue 13 June - Reading, South Street Arts Centre
Wed 14 June - London, The Garage
Thu 15 June - Tunbridge Wells, The Forum
Fri 16 June – Birkenhead, Future Yard
Thu 22 June – Dublin, The Grand Social
Fri 23 June – Belfast, The Limelight
Sun 25 June – Glasgow, Hug and Pint
Sat 28 October – Manchester, Bread Shed w/Cud
Sun 29 October – Liverpool, O2 Academy 2 w/Cud
Mon 30 October – Sheffield, O2 Academy 2 w/Cud
Tue 31 October – Birmingham, O2 Institute 2 w/Cud
Thu 2 November – Bristol, The Fleece w/Cud
Fri 3 November – Oxford, O2 Academy 2 w/Cud
Sat 4 November – London, O2 Academy Islington w/Cud

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