Having spent the majority of 2019 releasing a slew of highly praised singles, including ‘Two Times’, ‘Wicked Game’ and ‘Loud’, London-based indie-rockers Arliston have returned to deliver their first offering of 2020, ‘South’, written while on tour in Canada.
The band blend contemporary indie-rock aesthetics with a distinctly nostalgic edge. Taking influence from the new romantic Eighties sound, Arliston’s latest release channels a smooth and heartfelt direction filled with bright and lofty tones. I talked to the band to find out more about their latest release and what they have planned for us in the future.
Words by Chris Bound
Discovered via http://musosoup.com
Chris) Hi guys, how are you today?
Arliston) Yeah great, thanks. Well, as good as you can be in these strange times!
How would you describe your sound?
Probably indie-rock but with some more experimental edges to it. It’s definitely got an ambient theme that we keep returning to but we always try to mix it up with something fresh each time.
Which artists have influenced you the most?
It’s a long list! But Bon Iver, The National and Alt-J have played a huge part in shaping our sensibilities. We all have quite differing tastes though, all the way from Jordi’s love of metal to George’s passion for finger-style acoustic.
Can you tell us how your new single, ‘South’, came about?
We were on tour in Canada actually. And we were just jamming some ideas in our Airbnb and messing with some guitar FX – and the main guitar riff materialised. It has such an Eighties vibe to it that we called it ‘Stranger Things’ as a working title and that definitely informed the textures we used. Lyrically the song is about a relationship and how tiny little acts all add up to be a much larger issue, leading to the eventual collapse. We shot a really great video for the song, too, which follows that theme; it was a lot of fun as we got to trash a car for it! You should check it out!
And are you planning to make it part of a larger release, such as an EP or album?
We have a bit of a strange approach to the whole EP thing. In the age of streaming and shortening attention spans we’re just aiming to release singles regularly. The songs are interconnected as much as many EPs would be and maybe in the future we’ll collate them as a unified project but for now the plan is to keep the singles coming regularly.
What other plans have you got in store?
This year has definitely dealt a sucker punch to everyone’s best laid plans, and with music venues unlikely to open for a while we’re focusing on writing and releasing new music. Hopefully we can entertain some of you in isolation!
Finally, what’s been the most memorable moment of your career so far?
I think the Canada trip that ‘South’ was written on has to be up there. We played some great shows, met some amazing people and ate like kings. Basically we had a laugh travelling around a new country playing shows and writing songs – can’t complain about that!