While She Sleeps: “It’s scary releasing something like this… but we want to f*cking upset some people!”

While She Sleeps are but a few moments away from headlining their biggest-ever show on UK soil when they take to London’s Alexandra Palace on September 23, so what better way to gear us all up for that with the release of a banging new single and the announcement of their sixth album?

SELF HELL is set to drop in March next year, but the Sheffield five-piece have given us a flavour of what’s to come by unleashing the title-track – and it’s a bold new sound for the band, who say they’re entering ‘a new era’. Here, vocalist Loz Taylor and guitarist Sean Long chat about the fiery new tune and what fans can expect from the rest of record, as well as the new vinyl pressing of their iconic debut album This Is The Six.

Loz and Sean! How does it feel to have SELF HELL out, and how do you think people are going to react to it?
Sean: “I think collectively we just want to feel alive. We’re very excited for what we know is quite a loud step for the band. I was saying to Loz the other day that it feels like a second debut for this album because it’s got so much excitement behind it, and we’re taking so many risks. So I’m just excited to shake it up, to shock a few people and, you know, get that fire cooking.”
Loz: “We’ve never really been one of those bands that sticks to our laurels. We found our sound years ago, and ever since our first record, we’ve been kind of playing around with that and trying to push the boundaries for ourselves and get excited. This is a little bit different for us, but it also houses all the elements and nostalgia of all our individual inspirations and music that we like. I think it’s just exciting to try something new. It feels good for us.”

Why did you choose this track as the first single?
Sean: “I personally think this single is a bit of a mirage, really. It’s definitely akin to what the album sounds like, but we took the most controversial track to lead with on this, and the one that’s so bold as to make the most amount of noise. And we wanted to shake things up for ourselves emotionally. It’s a bit scary releasing something like this, but it’s that good kind of fear where you’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s fucking it, let’s fucking upset some people!’”
Loz: “I think people have heard that the world’s all going to shit. So, us bringing back some of that nostalgic feeling, like making old-school tunes like the bands that we're listening to and stuff, it just feels exciting. I guess by now you’re sick of hearing about the world’s going to shit, so let’s just fucking enjoy it and have fun.”

There’s some electronic elements in there – did artists like Aphex Twin, Pendulum and The Prodigy have any influence on your songwriting?
Sean: “It’s funny, I only got into Aphex Twin in the last two years and they’re currently one of my favourite artists. I got a lot of the inspiration for a lot of the melodies and stuff in the same scope. We all grew up on Pendulum and The Prodigy and all these kind of bands. We don’t just want to be a good metal band. I think I just want to be a good band.”
Loz: “There’s so many bands out there doing the straight-up metalcore and hardcore world so well. What really excites us is a combination of all those things that we enjoy. So that’s what we’ve tried to do with this record: really sort of push the boundaries into other areas of styles of music and genres that we love just as much as metal.”

And what about the rest of the album?
Loz: “I think that in some ways the record feels a little darker than normal; it’s got a mood about it. It’s crossed over with a few genres, and we’ve referenced a few artists that we’re not necessarily taking full inspiration from, but there’s elements of it that give us a feeling of maybe like a Placebo. It’s not necessarily the heaviest guitars you’ve ever heard but the mood is a little darker. It’s still very British – feels like dark Brit-pop.”

Are there any specific songs you can tease?!
Loz: “I think one of the biggest songs on the record is going to be Rainbows, which was going to be the first single. It captures the mood quite well over the whole record.”
Sean: “I would say look out for a track called Leave Me Alone. That’s probably going to be a single. But we’re actually that confident in the record that we’re struggling to know what songs to release because they’re all that fucking good! I want to release and play them all because they’re so fucking good. That’s not us being cocky – we’re just proud of it.”

Finally, you’re also releasing This Is The Six on vinyl very soon. How cool does that feel?
Loz: “For a few years now we’ve been a fully independent, self-managed band, and it’s just taken us a while to dig the hooks out of that and to be able to release it to our fanbase. It all feels so relevant at the moment, and it’s good for our fans to be able to get that that collector’s item and get it out!”

SELF HELL is due out on March 15, 2024. This Is The Six will be released on vinyl on September 22 via Music For Nations

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