UK-based heavy proggers Godsticks have announced their long awaited seventh studio album and the follow up to 2023’s lauded This Is What A Winner Looks Like. The new album, titled VOiD, is Godsticks’ darkest, heaviest, and most uncompromising album to date. Both lyrically and musically, VOiD reflects a disillusionment with a world increasingly defined by division, ideological rigidity, and the loss of nuance. The album documents a conscious withdrawal from the noise – a retreat into a personal void.
Godsticks guitarist and vocalist Darran Charles, mused:
“It feels like we’re in an age where there’s no compromise, no centre ground, and no one really wants to consider another person’s perspective. We’re left with just two viewpoints: left or right (which are also each side’s synonyms for either ‘right’ or ‘wrong’). Like many musicians, I’m arguably quite left-wing in my views, although I can’t help but feel that all the strides we’ve made as a society towards tolerance and inclusion have been undermined by efforts to shame anyone who may have used an incorrect word whilst actually doing a very positive thing. In recent years people have been too quick to strip words of context and more importantly, intent – all in the name of winning an argument or admonishing someone to make themselves look more enlightened.
But then I also think, what’s the f**king point in investing any energy getting annoyed at these things? We’re inherently selfish as a species and at this point in history it feels that we’ve never been so powerless and we share none of the positive aspects of community. No one is really interested in finding solutions and so – for me – it’s completely pointless conversing about these things and therefore I prefer to exist in my own little void”
VOiD will be released on 27th March on pearl sunrise vinyl LP, classic black LP, CD and digitally.
1. M.I.A. — 04:08
2. Hold Back — 04:41
3. Watch It Burn — 03:05
4. Master of a Plan — 04:47
5. Torn Again — 05:31
6. Can’t Withstand — 05:07
7. Ruthless Coward — 04:28
8. Talking Through Walls Pt. 1 — 03:28
9. Talking Through Walls Pt. 2 — 04:30
10. Hope Is Burning — 04:55
As well as the vinyl and CD versions of VOiD, all pre-orders made through the Official Godsticks Store and the Kscope Store will include Nowhere To Be Seen, a free bonus CD which includes 3 unreleased tracks.
Nowhere To Be Seen bonus CD
1. Downplay
2. Nowhere To Be Seen
3. Hope Is Burning (piano arrangement)
Drummer Tom Price and guitarist Gavin Bushell continue to play a vital role in the writing process, while the introduction of new bassist Francis George brings a subtle but important shift in the overall feel to the rhythm section.
“I cannot overstate the enormously positive impact Tom and Gavin have had on the writing process over the last few albums. Whilst the writing methods have rarely changed for me over the years, what has changed is that their contributions are indispensable and something I genuinely look forward to incorporating. I’ve lost count of the times on this album that they’ve provided or reinterpreted a part that has prevented the song from being binned because it wasn’t working. This is also the first time in 12 years that we’re working with a different bass player too (Francis George), and that itself has offered a fresh perspective on arrangements and influenced the overall feel to the rhythm section. It’s a little different this time around.” – Darran Charles
Having been holed-up in the studio for the last 18 months, Godsticks are finally being released into the wild once more, ready for a run of UK shows and armed with new music from the new album. Guitarist and vocalist Darran Charles says it is “the toughest and most demanding record we’ve ever made, featuring music that has pushed us to the very extremes of what we can do as musicians.”
These new shows will see a monumental release of tension and energy from this darker and angrier incarnation of Godsticks, so be prepared to be greeted with a ferocious sonic punch-in-the-face; it’s one that you won’t want to miss.”
GODSTICKS UK TOUR DATES
April 17th – London, Hope and Anchor TICKETS
April 18th – Nottingham, The Old Sal TICKETS
April 23rd – Manchester, Gullivers TICKETS
April 24th – Birmingham, The Victoria TICKETS
April 25th – Swansea, The Bunkhouse TICKETS
May 1st – Hidden, Dundee TICKETS
May 2nd – The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh TICKETS
June 27th – The Louisiana, Bristol TICKETS
June 28th – The 1865, Southampton TICKETS
July 4th – SOS Festival, Oldham TICKETS
