Buzzin Music

The Xcerts will release their much anticipated second album Scatterbrain on October 4th, promising a brilliantly sinister and filthy quality to their sound as they delve back to the early grunge era of the nineties.

Scatterbrain is produced by Mike Sapone , the first UK act to be overseen by the American, early recording began earlier this year at his New York home.

While the new album promises an angrier young band than heard on their excellent debut album In The Cold We Smile, the band have lost none of their pop sensibilities and catchy melodies on Scatterbrain.

The Xcerts were encouraged to experiment more on the new album by producer Sapone, who turned out to be like a fourth member of the band. Murray MacLeod says “There’s parts that would never have happened, had we not worked with Mike.”

Murray MacLeod went on to defend the change of direction sound wise on Scatterbrain, saying: “If we didn’t sound different, I’d be worried. The first album was – as for most new bands – something of a ‘greatest hits’ from the band’s early years, when they were still finding their feet. This time, the album was almost entirely written in a six-week break between tours and as a result paints a much more vibrant picture; a single body of work that makes sense; a proper album that it would seem blasphemous to shuffle.”

Talking about the influences on the new album, MacLeod said; “There are certain records that we’re all really into that have a similar sound – a balance of raw emotion and good production. ‘In Utero’ by Nirvana, ‘Pinkerton’ by Weezer, ‘Either/Or’ by Elliot Smith, ‘The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me’ by Brand New, ‘Nebraska’ by Bruce Springsteen and ‘For Emma Forever Ago’ by Bon Iver. That’s pretty much exactly how we wanted this record to sound.

This is an album lover’s album for the fans of the band. It’s not about a particular track or single and should be listened too as an entire body of work with an open mind. We hope everyone falls in love with it like we have.”

xcerts video young (belane)

The Xcerts will release the single Young (Belane) one week ahead of the album on September 27th. The video to accompany the single was recently filmed in the remote Welsh countryside and directed by Joseph Rodrigues Marsh.

The band managed to call upon friend and actor Jamie Campbell Bower to perform in the video. The actor is best know for his role of Caius in ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ and has recently completed the filming of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ Part I and II. His filmography also features films directed by Tim Burton and Guy Ritchie and he is rumoured to be cast as King Arthur in a 10-part American TV series called ‘Camelot’ alongside Tamsin Egerton as his queen Guinevere.

In the video for Young (Belane) Bower is cast as a creepy-obsessed fan that kidnaps the band and drags their unconscious bodies back to a secluded barn to add to his ultimate shrine of memorabilia. When not force feeding them Macaroni Cheese or cutting off trinkets of their hair Bower’s character gets distracted and while he’s dancing to one of the The Xcerts’ early releases the band make for an escape! But will they be successful?

Well if you can wait, the video will be unveiled at 5pm August 25th, exclusively on The Xcerts website.

In support of the release of Scatterbrain The Xcerts will be hitting the road in support of Futures before headlining their own national tour. Dates below:

SEPTEMBER
18th Southsea festival, Portsmouth
21st Joiners, Southampton w/Futures
22nd Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff w/Futures
23nd Borderline, London w/Futures
25th Roadhouse, Manchester w/Futures
26th Underground Festival, Gloucester w/Futures
27th King Tuts, Glasgow w/Futures
28th Cockpit, Leeds w/Futures
29th Academy 2, Newcastle w/Futures