18 September 2020 - 0 Comments

The Bats have kindly shared a second single, Another Door from their upcoming album Foothills. Guitarist and vocalist Robert Scott has said on the single, "This song is wee ditty about opportunities both missed and taken. It came together really quickly with the band." Although more lyrically reserved than other songs, Another Door is fuelled by familiar and overwhelmingly lush harmonies and features a hypnotic tremolo guitar motif woven throughout. The anticipation for Foothills to land on November 13th is ever-growing!

The video for Another Door was filmed not far from where the band recorded their upcoming Foothills album and was a collaboration between The Bats’ very own Paul Kean, and FlowStateFPV. Acting as a snapshot of where Foothills was immortalised, the video also plays around with hidden (and not so hidden) meanings — but what one takes from it is truly up to the viewer.

Spanning the last 38 years, The Bats have now clocked ten incredible albums; each one seeing the band evolve with new material from the prolific songwriting hand of Robert Scott —and their upcoming Foothills is no exception. Add to that tally the extra singles, b-sides, EPs, compilations and tribute songs they’ve recorded, creating a succinct setlist is a nearly impossible task.

Foothills was recorded in Spring 2018 at a country retreat pop-up studio. At that time, 15 songs were captured and immortalised in the Canterbury foothills of the Southern Alps, Aotearoa (New Zealand). Only too well, The Bats know the possibilities, potentialities and sonic vistas that arise when one takes the reins for the recording process in a beautiful place that’s on home turf.

Robert Scott, on the making of Foothills has said "Time marches on... finally, we found a gap in our busy lives and chose a week to convene. We found a house that is usually inhabited by ski field workers — Kowai Bush, near Springfield about an hour west of Christchurch and of course nestled in the foothills of the mighty Southern Alps. The songs had been written, demo’d and arranged for some time, but still with a little room for trying things out in the studio. Many carloads arrived at the house, full of amps guitars and recording gear, we set up camp and soon made it feel like home; coloured lights, a log fire, and home cooked meals in the kitchen. We worked fast, and within a few days had all the basic backing tracks done, live together in one room, the way we like to do it - it’s all about ‘the feel’ for songs like ours."

PRE-ORDER / PRE-SAVE FOOTHILLS HERE

The Bats must hold a record in New Zealand (perhaps the whole world, once The Rolling Stones throw in the towel) as a band that has survived with the same line-up for 38 years. No split ups, no reforming for nostalgia’s sake.

So far, half of the band have spots in The New Zealand Music Hall Of Fame, vocalist/ guitarist Robert Scott (The Clean) and bassist/producer Paul Kean (Toy Love), and it’s only a matter of time before lead guitarist Kaye Woodward and drummer Malcolm Grant find themselves in there too. The four-piece has created twisted wistful folk, psychedelic rock, bouncy twee pop, and everything in between, but whatever the genre, their sound is always distinctively, unmistakably The Bats.

Comments

Return to News Archive