The Heavy Return With 'Hurt & The Merciless' April 1

Watch The Video For "Since You Been Gone": on.wsj.com/20ticni

 

Super sonic Bath, UK quartet The Heavy will return April 1 with their most exhilarating record yet - 'Hurt & The Merciless' (Bad Son Recording Company). Recorded live in a remote studio on the fringes of their hometown, the band was determined to harness the raw power of their concerts and looked to their earliest bedroom recordings as inspiration. A lot has happened since those days: a Gold record, millions of streams and performances on the world's biggest stages. Written over the past four years, while members of the band went through some dark times including a divorce - 'Hurt & The Merciless' is relentless, tough and gritty. The Heavy are set to appear at SXSW, perform at Coachella, have confirmed a West Coast run in April, and a special preview show in NYC March 8 (sold out).

The hard-hitting video for lead single "Since You Been Gone" features British actors Thomas Turgoose (This Is England, The Innocence Project) and Abigail Hardingham (Nina Forever) as a couple in the throes of a break-up. Watch it here: on.wsj.com/20ticni

A confluence of obsessions - from classic rock, soul and hip hop, to crate digging and sampling - are what brought The Heavy together, and 'Hurt & The Merciless' is a musical culmination of these influences. A good deal of heartache went into the writing process as well. "Songs like 'What Happened To The Love?,' 'Mean Old Man' and 'The Apology' were necessary, they needed to be expelled from my system," says frontman Kelv Swaby.

Lead single "Since You Been Gone" is exuberant soul with big horns and a backing chorus, partly inspired by Kelv's love for Motown and penned while on a tour bus travelling the US. While "The Apology" came from a dark place, it's set to a hurtling disco. The gospel-flecked cool down of "Goodbye Baby" closes the album. 'Hurt & The Merciless was self-produced by the band. The Heavy is Kelv Swaby (vocals), Dan Taylor (guitar), Spencer Page (bass) and Chris Ellul (drums).

With 100 million streams on Spotify and YouTube combined, music in films, soundtracking trailers to two of 2015's most important films ('The Hateful Eight' and 'The Big Short'), performances at Glastonbury, Shepherds Bush Empire and much more - The Heavy have accomplished some incredible things since setting the music world on fire. 'Hurt & The Merciless' is the sound of a thrilling band fighting back.

Track List

1. Since You Been Gone

2. What Happened To The Love?

3. Not The One

4. The Apology

5. Nobody's Hero

6. Miss California

7. Turn Up

8. A Ghost You Can't Forget

9. Last Confession

10. Mean Ol' Man

11. Slave To Your Love

12. Goodbye Baby

Tour Dates

2/17 - The Moth Club - London, UK - SOLD OUT

3/4 - Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival - Okeechobee, FL

3/8 - National Sawdust - NY, NY - SOLD OUT

3/15 - 3/20 - SXSW - Austin, TX

4/17 - Coachella Festival - Indio, CA

4/20 - The Roxy - Los Angeles, CA

4/22 - The Glasshouse (support for The Arcs) - Pomona, CA

4/24 - Coachella Festival - Indio, CA

4/25 - Velvet Jones - Santa Barbara, CA

4/26 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA

4/27 - The Catalyst - Santa Cruz, CA

4/29 - Bossanova Ballroom - Portland, OR

5/1 - Neumos - Seattle, WA

5/2 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC

5/12 - Academy 2 - Birmingham, UK

5/13 - Academy 2 - Manchester, UK

5/14 - University - Newcastle, UK

5/15 - Oran Mor - Glasgow, UK

5/17 - Heaven - London, UK

5/18 - O2 Academy - Bristol, UK

5/20 - Triz Club - Antwerp, Belgium

5/21 - Melkweg - Amsterdam, Netherlands

5/22 - Luxor - Cologne, Germany

5/23 - Columbia Theater - Berlin, Germany

5/25 - Mascotte - Zurich, Switzerland

5/26 - Trabendo - Paris, France

 

iTunes: http://smarturl.it/heavymerciless-it

Apple Music: http://smarturl.it/heavymerciless-am

Amazon (CD): http://smarturl.it/heavymerciless-azcd

Amazon (Digital): http://smarturl.it/heavymerciless-azd

Google Play: http://smarturl.it/heavymerciless-gp

The Heavy Official Website: http://smarturl.it/heavymerciless

Spotify: http://smarturl.it/heavymerciless-sp

http://www.theheavy.co.uk