When The View reconvened last year after five years apart, the three old-friends realised just how much they have missed… well, everything about being in a band: the rush of seeing an audience react to their performances, the camaraderie of being together, a simple jam idea evolving into a fully-fledged song. A run of comeback gigs at Glasgow’s O2 Academy saw all 10,000 tickets sold in advance, the fan reaction was overwhelming and they were even joined on-stage by an old friend in the shape of ‘Line of Duty’ actor Martin Compston. 

After all that, how could you resist wanting more? Especially as their rehearsals for the shows saw the band conjure up a wealth of new song ideas just like they did back when they first started out. And so The View today announce that ‘Exorcism of Youth’ – their first album since 2015 – will be released on June 9th via Cooking Vinyl.  

Frontman Kyle Falconer says, “Working with Youth on our third album ‘Bread and Circuses’ was one of the best experiences of my career so we jumped at the chance to revisit the opportunity with him in Spain. To be able to go into the studio again as a band with added experience was just magical.”  

The View launch the album by sharing its lead single ‘Feels Like’.  The band’s fiery energy ignites the song in a blaze of melody before hitting the kind of instantly irresistible hook with which they’ve made their name.  It’s a track perfectly built for upcoming shows too, with its breakdown sure to be an immensely atmospheric moment when they hit summer festivals. 

Kyle adds, “This one felt anthemic from the get go. Even though under the surface it’s about somewhere everyone’s been in their life before: regret of losing someone amazing due to your inner demons and seeing them moving on with their life, when you’re stuck in a ‘nightmare not a dream.’ When I first sat down to write it I had Holden Caulfield from ‘Catcher in the Rye’ in mind. It’s playing out in his mind and it’s his own paranoia destroying him from the inside out when in reality she’s the perfect woman.” 

Elsewhere, the album darts from highlight-to-highlight, taking in a cocktail of ‘60s pop and punky punch on ‘The Wonder Of It All’, strutting and swaggering on ‘Neon Nights’, and channelling driving, anthemic rock like a trio of Scottish Springsteens on ‘Woman of the Year’. At times, though, it represents an evolution for the band too, with the sweeping strings of ‘Black Mirror’ and the darker alt-pop production of ‘Footprints In The Sand’. Ultimately ‘Exorcism of Youth’ is where The View should be at this stage in their lives: still burning with the passion of youth, but with the confidence and control that comes from having been around the block and, in the process, learned from the experience. 

Fans who pre-order ‘Exorcism of Youth’ HERE will receive a code to access a pre-sale for The View’s underplay shows at Manchester’s Deaf Institute (May 10th) and London’s Oslo (May 11th) – the band’s first shows in both cities since 2017. The pre-sale opens at 9am on Wednesday, February 22nd and will remain live until any remaining tickets go on general sale at 9am on Friday, February 24th.  

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