Ride - Interplay (2LP)

Everything feels like it has been leading to Interplay, Ride's forthcoming seventh album, the third since their 2015 reunion. It’s the sound of the group connecting all the dots, taking the frenzied guitar attacks, hypnotic grooves and dreamy melodic hooks of their early work and setting it to a more expansive sonic template, one that takes in synth flourishes, psychedelic folk, electronic beats and noir-pop soundscapes.

It has been a period of adversity in the world of Ride. Much of that was down to writing and recording during a pandemic – a period of adversity shared by everyone, everywhere – but there was also break-ups and a messy legal battle with an ex-manager that, singer and guitarist Mark Gardener states, “threatened our very existence.” It has instilled in the record a feeling of defiance, an album that pairs classic Ride lyrical hallmarks such as escapism, dreams, the dissatisfaction of modern life, yearning and freedom with a sense of resilience. Songs began springing up in a variety of ways.

Initially working at Gardener’s own OX4 studio, there were extended jams from which pieces of music would be honed upon and reworked into something more concise whilst each band member also brought in their own home- recorded demos to work from too. That everything was filtered through what happens when the four-piece play in a room together is alluded to the record’s title.

1. Peace Sign

2. Last Frontier

3. Light in a Quiet Room

4. Monaco

5. I Came to See the Wreck

6. Stay Free

7. Last Night I Went Somewhere to Dream

8. Sunrise Chaser

9. Midnight Rider

10. Portland Rocks

11. Essaouira 

12. Yesterday is Just a Song