After much speculation following the release of the tracklist for their new album ‘Planet Nowhere’, Razorlight have shared their new single Taylor Swift = US Soft Propaganda.
The latest song to be lifted from the LP immediately caught fans’ attention, with the two-minute tune led by Johnny Borrell’s charismatic vocals and a quirky, stream of consciousness lyric featuring lines such as: ‘This sounds like a filler on a Jonathan Richman album… which means this is probably the best song we’re gonna put on this one.’
On the song, Johnny says: “We were in the studio and Björn [Agren, guitarist] went in to record a guitar overdub on Zombie Love. He started playing this riff, I said ‘What’s that?’. He said ‘I dunno”. I said ‘Keep playing it’.
“So Björn kept on playing and I pushed record and sang it in one take while he played it. When you’re recording an album there’s always a song that pops up out of nothing.
“Regarding the title, there hasn’t been an empire in history that hasn’t required propaganda, why should America be any different?”
Listen to Taylor Swift = US Soft Propaganda below.
Comprising Johnny, Björn, drummer Andy and bassist Carl Dalemo, the LP is the first to feature all four members since 2008’s ‘Slipway Fires’.
Arriving on the back of the group’s 2018 ‘Olympus Sleeping’ and a 2022 greatest hits collection, ‘Planet Nowhere’ was born of a five-day session with producer Youth at his Space Mountain studio in Spain, which led to the band recording a full album.
He says: “I’d been down in the barranca, and came back up to find the studio empty. So I picked up this weird six-string bass/guitar hybrid I’d never seen before and wrote this thing. On our last night, I started playing it with the guys. The drums came in hard, the bass pounded. It sounded like shit. Absolute shit.
“But Youth was there, saying ‘Can, Velvets, see where it takes you’ and ‘Why don’t you try it like that?’ But still the track just wouldn’t budge, locked in its own inertia. Youth says, ‘You’re getting there, just one more’ and almost instantly the song came out, from nothing to something, like a statue coming up out of marble.”
‘Planet Nowhere’ is out October 25 and available to pre-order from the official Razorlight store.
Tracklist: Razorlight – Planet Nowhere
1. Zombie Love
2. U Can Call Me
3. Taylor Swift = US Soft Propaganda
4. Dirty Luck
5. Scared Of Nothing
6. F.O.B.F.
7. Empire Service
8. Cyclops
9. Cool People
10. April Ends
Alongside the album, Razorlight will perform a run of intimate UK shows throughout October, including stops in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Brighton and Bristol.
Tickets are on sale now and are available here. The full list of dates is below.
OCTOBER 2024
18 – Castle and Falcon, Birmingham
19 – Mash House, Edinburgh
20 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
21 – Band On The Wall, Manchester
22 – Komedia, Brighton
24 – Bristol Strange Brew, Bristol
NOVEMBER 2024
21 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
