The Band: JEKYLL

The Release:
'TEAR OURSELVES IN TWO'
'TEAR OURSELVES IN TWO' (ACOUSTIC)

The Format: DIGITAL SINGLE

The Release Date: JUNE 11TH 2021

The Digital Link: orcd.co/jekyll_tearourselves

The Truth: JEKYLL are still very much four rock kids from Blackpool who consist of Joel Foster (vocals / guitar), Lewis Armistead (bass), Liam Singleton (drums) and Mike Spence (guitar). On March 13th 2020 they released 'The Whispering Gallery', their second excellent EP stuffed full of pulsating singles and launched to chime with the countdown to their trip to SXSW. Ten days later a very bruised Lord Boris addressed the nation from a drowning Downing Street and everything went incredibly weird.

Fourteen months on, that incredible weirdness is lessening ever-so-slightly but the Jekyll musical thought processes remain fervently relevant. Having filled a small lockdown hole with their suitably serene cover of Japan's 'Nightporter' for fierce panda's Covid Version Sessions, their first new material since the virus hit is a wannabe viral hit called 'Tear Ourselves In Two', out on June 11th.

They've grown up in lockdown, for sure: big of strums and bold of drums, 'Tear Ourselves In Two' takes Jekyll's pre-covid alt.rock template of fragrant vocals laid over a bed of gently bendy shoegaze-tinged sonics and throws a casually radio-friendly chorus into the booming mix. It sets out its stirring stall as the first track off their forthcoming debut album, due in the autumn of '21, and it's poetry in motion, as you may expect from a band who referenced Thomas Hardy with 'The Whispering Gallery'.

"'Tear Ourselves...' initially started out as quite an ambient and cinematic instrumental with no chorus and stayed that way for quite a while," muses frontman Joel. "It wasn’t until we got the chorus down that it finally made sense and became the lilting ballad that it is now. Lyrically and musically, it was first conceived as a sort of answer to one of our older songs, 'Mania', and was going to be a sort of sombre/sober reflection on the chaos of 'Mania' (a calm after the storm) as if you’ve just woken up from a particularly vivid nightmare.

"Over time, this concept shifted slightly and the sentiment of the song became more about being grateful for having someone with you to help you find your way out of the nightmare and not letting life’s darker moments get between you both. The recording for this song was done during the brief lifting of pandemic restrictions last summer and we’ve been dying to release it ever since. This is our first release since the pandemic started, so it also felt very appropriate to be releasing a song about unity and resilience in the face of adversity."

Jekyll hooked up with fierce panda at The Great Escape just over three yearning years back, and just in time for their lively, driving debut ‘Jekyll’ EP. Much of that release, as well as the ‘The Whispering Gallery’ singles, have been heartily championed by Huw Stephens, Steve Lamacq and John Kennedy, while their BBC Maida Vale session for Radio 1 was played out on the Huw, Jack Saunders and Daniel P Carter shows.

Throw in media and live support from BBC Introducing, This Feeling, Gigslutz, The Zine, Backseat Mafia and Kick Out The Jams, plus the weirdly disenfranchised glory of playing Austin's SXSW 2021 from a jazz club in Chelsea, Londonshire. Then hope to the lord in the skies above that these live alt.rockings here take place, fierce pandemics willing…

JUNE 11TH BLACKPOOL BOOTLEG SOCIAL
(+ Lost Hills + Emily Rhodes)

OCTOBER 4TH LONDON DALSTON VICTORIA
(fierce panda & Radio Fandango presents...Pandemicamonium (+ Polarized Eyes))

NOVEMBER 26TH BLACKPOOL BOOTLEG SOCIAL
(w/ Ist Ist)

www.facebook.com/jekyllband
www.fiercepanda.co.uk