a-tota-so Share Animated Video For ‘Far Enough’
Midlands based math-rockers a-tota-so are back though not quite as mathy as you might remember them. When COVID19 hit the UK and the never ending lockdowns and lack of support for the music industry started signalling the end of live music for what many thought might be a very long time, a-tota-so decided to change things up and keep themselves busy working on their second album entitled “Lights Out”.
The biggest change sees the usually instrumental band enlisting a gang of their vocalist friends from the UK and Irish music scene, putting a fresh spin on their music and create something different this time around. Each of the 8 tracks boasts a different vocalist from the likes of Damien Sayell (The St Pierre Snake Invasion/Mclusky), Ashley Tubb (Sugar Horse), Jake O'Driscoll (God Alone) and Ellie Godwin (No Violet).
With most of the music being written during the first lockdown and recorded over winter 2020 at JT Soar, the legendary DIY venue and recording studio in Nottingham, the band sent a track to each of the vocalists they had in mind and they were given free reign to do what they wanted over the instrumentals. The result is an exciting and eclectic album which covers a wide range of genres and changes the bands sound completely.
Guitarist Marty Toner comments, “The album deals with a variety of themes including depression, anxiety, feeling lost and the general state of the world we are currently living in while providing hope that we can carry on with the things that we all love and enjoy in the future."
Now the band have shared the video for 2nd single ‘Far Enough’ featuring vocals from Damien Sayell (The St Pierre Snake Invasion/Mclusky).
Watch the video here.
Video director Phil Formby (Hyper Vanilla) comments,
"The song seems to yearn for an escape from the stresses and pressures of life. No doubt inspired by the last few dismal years in the UK. This was a great opportunity to let off a bit of steam and have a laugh doing it. Essentially the premise is about escapism, finding the thing that brings you joy and striving towards it. It’s a dig at the relentless forces of social and mainstream media, consumerism, capitalism, politics and all the noise that leaks into our subconscious. It’s about community and friendship and finding your place in the world.
The film is a collage of thousands of tour photos and various images from undisclosed sources. We tried to put as much of the character of the band in as we could, it’s a celebration of a band’s life on the road.
The main character in the film is the van. ‘The Provider’ will be familiar to many on the DIY circuit having been in ownership of several bands over the years. I myself spent a cold winter tour covering many miles in its rusty enclave. The Provider has since retired from the gig scene, living out its final days as a mobile library in Africa."
Featuring members of Alright the Captain and Cheap Jazz, a-tota-so formed in 2016 after both bands went on hiatus and they went on to release their self titled debut album in 2018.
Since their formation they have gone on to tour the UK and mainland Europe appearing at festivals including ArcTanGent, Bad Pond and Strangeforms alongside shows with the likes of Tera Melos, Alpha Male Tea Party, Memory of Elephants, Chiyoda Ku and more.
“Lights Out” will be released on the 11th March 2022 via bUTTONpUSHER and is available to pre-order from - http://a-tota-so.bandcamp.com
The album was produced by former Duran Duran/ Power Station guitarist Andy Taylor whose playing on the record joins Gary Stringer on vocals, Jack Bessant on bass, Jesse Wood (son of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood) on guitars, and Luke Bessant, (ex-Bryan Ferry / KT Tunstall / Joe Strummer) on drums. Collectively they are remarkable array of talents who together can justly lay claim to being a national rock’n’roll treasure.
And Shoot Me Your Ace showcases their power in one of the most thrilling rock albums of recent years. From the title track’s swaggering opening salvo all the way through to album closer ‘Strangelove’, Shoot Me Your Ace is a thrilling blast of unadulterated rock’n’roll joy.Producer Andy Taylor says, “I’ve been looking to make a record like this for a long time. I can’t love it enough. The chances you get in life to do something as great as this album don't come along very often, so when they do you just grab them.”
“The universe has put all the pieces into place for us,” continues Bessant. “This line-up, these four guys, along with Andy’s extra guitar and production, is just one big ball of energy that we managed to bottle. It feels like the start of a new chapter for us - Reef Mk II.”
This cosmic alchemy has resulted in a record that doesn’t just match such classic Reef albums as 1995 breakout debut Replenish or 1997’s transcendent Glow but exceeds them.
After two years of uncertainty, despondency, and gloom, it feels like an outpouring of positivity. As Gary Stringer puts it: “It’s the sound the world needs right now.”
Shoot Me Your Ace will be released on a variety of formats including CD, black vinyl, coloured vinyl, cassette and digital. Pre-order the album, along with brand new Shoot Me Your Ace merchandise here: https://reef.tmstor.es/
