UK shoegaze outfit Ride have announced their new album, Interplay, out March 29th via Witchita Recordings/PIAS. As a preview, the band has shared the album’s lead single, “Peace Sign.” Stream it below.
Interplay will serve as Ride’s first album in five years and their third effort since the quartet’s 2015 reunion. Inspired by Tears for Fears, Talk Talk, and early U2, it was produced by the band and Richie Kennedy.
In a statement about the album, vocalist Andy Bell shared that while the making of Interplay took “a long time” with “many ups and downs; maybe the most of any Ride album,” it resulted in an effort that all four were proud of. “[Interplay] has seen us come through the process as a band in a good place, feeling able to shake off the past, and ready to celebrate the combined musical talents that brought us together in the first place.”
“Peace Sign” is as warm and euphoric as Ride gets, with signature harmonies from Bell and Mark Gardener, dreamy lead guitar lines, and synths that feel lifted straight from the late ’80s. Bell and Gardener embrace the song’s sunny disposition by asking in the chorus, “Give me a peace sign/ Throw your hands in the air/ Give me a peace sign/ Let me know you’re there.” They also finish the final chorus with a round of “La-la-la’s.” It’s a fitting sentiment given the band’s absence through the pandemic, and you can practically envision a crowd of festivalgoers throwing up peace signs as they launch into the song’s anthemic refrain.
According to Bell, the song’s title was originally “Berlin” and began as a jam in Gardener’s OX4 studio over two years ago. “About six months later I got hold of the recording and wrestled it into song form,” Bell explained. “Lyrically, I was inspired by a film called The Alpinist about the visionary free climber Marc-André Leclerc. Soon after I’d finished working on the song I remember I was raving to my bandmates about Leclerc at OX4, and a good memory of that time was us all watching that film at Mark’s studio.”
Interplay Artwork:
Interplay Tracklist:
01. Peace Sign
02. Last Frontier
03. Light in a Quiet Room
04. Monaco
05. I Came to See the Wreck
06. Stay Free
07. Last Night I Came
08. Sunrise Chaser
09. Midnight Rider
10. Portland Rocks
11. Essaouira
12. Yesterday Is Just a Song