PRODUCED BY BERNARD BUTLER AND RECORDED AT ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS

RELEASED 10th NOVEMBER 2023

NEW SINGLE WESTWAY OUT NOW 
WATCH | LISTEN

[London, Wednesday 9 August] Galway-bred, London-based band The Clockworks return with their first single of 2023, taken from their long-awaited debut album, set for release on 10th November.  

The new single Westway is out today and is the first taste of the band’s forthcoming debut album, EXIT STRATEGY, recorded with Grammy, BRIT & Mercury Prize winning producer Bernard Butler at Abbey Road Studios and Love Electric Studios. 

Following a string of single releases with acclaim from the likes of Annie Mac, Iggy Pop, Steve Lamacq and Simon Le Bon, a US tour with Pixies and last year’s hugely successful UK & Europe headline tour, The Clockworks open their album campaign with the record’s final track, Westway. 

Watch the accompanying video here. 

Speaking on the track, and the decision to release the album’s final song first, singer James McGregor says “We were inspired by the writing and production of ‘50s Doo-wop, Phil Spector and Motown. Westway is the album’s final track, so we are beginning the album’s story with the last scene in the same way that some of the great films, like Goodfellas, begin at the end.” 

EXIT STRATEGY centres around a protagonist who moves from Galway to London in search of meaning, certain that as the main character in the film of his own life, the solution lies in changing his surroundings and acting as someone he’s not. The album promises encounters with manipulative bosses, evil ad agencies, a broken pact to flee to Australia, run-ins with the law, cheating boyfriends, drug fuelled youths, heartache, paranoia, social media anxiety and a drunk singer dressed as Jesus.

Explaining the album’s genesis and cinematic influence, James McGregor says:  “We were always sure we wanted the album to be greater than the sum of its parts, so  decided to create the world of a film, entitled Exit Strategy. We envisaged the record as a series of snapshots, telling the story of a group of characters trying to navigate through life.”

Hallmarked more by a philosophy than a sound, The Clockworks weave pop sensibilities with noisy, post-punk, rock-influenced stylings. The songs seem swaggering and dark yet often have an epic, nostalgic quality. They sit poetic introspection beside witty kitchen sink drama to create something intense but playful. 

EXIT STRATEGY will be released on 10th November and is available for pre-order here.  

Tracklisting

Side A – Galway

1 Deaths and Entrances
2 Bills and Bills
3 Mayday Mayday
4 Enough is Never Enough
5 Hall of Fame
6 Car Song
7 Danny’s Working Like a Dog

Side B – London

8 Feels So Real
9 Advertise Me
10 Modern City Living (All We Are)
11 Life in a Day
12 Lost in the Moment
13 Westway