A band forged in the white heat of technology, telling tales as old as time, The Wellermen has seen their rise amass 270 million+ streams, sell out several tours in both the UK and US, and attract the attention of Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers and John Oliver. Now the Transatlantic group expand their creative vision with the release of their new album, ‘Homeward Bound’, on March 12th – their first collection of original self-written material. They launched the record alongside the new single ‘Samhain’. Listen HERE.
From ‘Captain Caroline’, a tale of a pirate ship’s cat, to boldly taking a leap of faith to start your own life journey with ‘Mom I’m Going’, all the way to the album’s closing title track, an evergreen capturing of homesickness – these sound like the kind of tunes that have been sung in pubs and bars from Bolton to Boston over centuries. That timelessness is infused by a rich tapestry of diverse influences spanning the band’s varied backgrounds in the UK and North America, from cowboy ballads, bluegrass, and Appalachian folk song to the songwriting of Nick Drake and Richard Thompson.
The Wellermen’s Jonny Stewart says, “It’s an album that is true to us as people and our tastes. We all contain multitudes but if you had to put us in a box, Luke Taylor is the country boy, Sam Pope is the sea shanty-loving pirate, Seb Payne is the mystic, Bobby Waters is the metal bass and I’m the Celt. We can see each other in each of the songs, but we’ve synthesised it all to be The Wellermen.”
The album’s lead single ‘Samhain’ sets the quintet’s rich, exquisitely textured vocals to a haunting folk backdrop. Fittingly for Halloween weekend it tackled the evocation of a witches’ coven: itself a metaphor for a beguiling, high danger love.
The accompanying video translates the song’s themes into a surreal folk horror visual. The mysterious figure from the album cover, face obscured by an old school diving helmet, is beguiled by the seductive moves of a beautiful dancer. Yet as the song unfolds, the pair morph into ever more disturbing forms.
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