After a string of singles over the past two years, Modern Guilt is set to release their anticipated sophomore EP, We’ll Always Have Vegas, on 8th March 2024, which will feature the previously unheard track ‘Gramophone Ready’ which the London-based three-piece have been eager to share.
Jump starting the new EP is the band’s only 2023 release, ‘Talking to Myself’, a The Strokes-esque hip-swinger that is fiery, elegant, and encompasses Modern Guilt’s classic jagged and direct sound. Moving through the five-track firecracker, indulge in the cherry-picked inspiration from The Doors and The Dandy Warhols to not being morning people as the ensemble delves deeper into their vintage essence. Strewn with cinematic evocation, tender lovesick balladry, and the sort of comradeship money can’t buy, the narrative of We’ll Always Have Vegas is the euphoric retrospection of an individual after a night on the town (the town in question: Las Vegas). The pilgrimage to false joy, in search of feeling, is told through snapshots of the binge and a series of tales from the feast. The trials and tribulations experienced through this jumbled journey are a reflection of how the band remembers their lives and the people they encounter.
Speaking of We’ll Always Have Vegas, frontperson Jaz [Dalrymple] states, “The new EP is about the fruitless, delusional and intoxicating arc of reaching into the pit of ourselves and having a good rummage around, chasing complete pleasure and the internal narratives, stories and monologues that accompany each stage of the rise and fall. From looking for the cure to emptiness and loneliness into the circus of nights in and nights out and back to the beginning again.” Further elaborating on the themes, he added: “It’s the search for a cure to your loneliness, artificially maintaining it as long as your body can stand, and at its peak, it can become this cacophony of supernovas, lust and desire that wanes into this mirror-gazing collapse as it begins to slow and resulting in new found emptiness.”
The EP closer flips the script on the otherwise gritty, energetic opus, as the trio deliver a more rhythmic and heartfelt offering in ‘Gramophone Ready’. ‘Gramophone Ready’ is an ode to love stories – inspired by the flawless soundtracking of the climactic moments in romantic films and the contrasting less-than-perfect reality of the cliched perfection depicted in so many movies. The final track of this stellar EP is filled with fragility and melancholy, driven by its orchestral heartbeat, which pulls the listener back to reality from the euphoric nostalgia of the other four tracks. “Imagine a scene of someone standing in the rain with a huge amount of overwhelming poetry and cinema,” drummer Scott Thomson noted. “The song chases these perfect feelings, the peak moments, those core memories that will be with you forever, and the sadness of not knowing them.”
The new release marks the long-awaited follow-up to 2021’s You’re Welcome EP, an understated 5-track oeuvre championed by the likes of tastemakers Steve Lamacq (BBC 6Music), John Kennedy (Radio X) and Jess Iszatt (BBC Radio 1/Introducing). After two singles in 2022 and heavy focus placed on their live performance, the band returned last year with ‘Talking to Myself’, which, on EP release day, will be accompanied by a brand new music video produced by acclaimed filmmaker Ross Scott. With Modern Guilt’s careful concoction of alt-rock laced with psychedelic swagger, anthemic Britpop, and frontperson-ship, courtesy of Jaz Dalrymple, the likes of Mick Jagger would envy, the ensemble looks forward to sharing the brand new material with audiences everywhere, including Antarctica.
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