The Xcerts have announced the details of their 5th album, the long-awaited follow-up to their 2018 release Hold Onto Your Heart. It’s going to be called Learning How To Live and Let Go and will be released on August 18th via UNFD.
Vocalist Murray Macleod had this to say about the record and what it represents to the band:
“The album is rooted in drama, ego, love, lust, despair, alcohol, euphoria, anxiety, comedy, modern living, sex and friendship, but the overarching theme is that of acceptance. I was involved in a prolonged toxic relationship, and the fallout from that, when it came to a head, led me to indulge in a pretty fuzzed-out lifestyle to deafen the noise in my head. Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast at times, but breaking point wasn’t enough, I needed more of the unhealthy and as many recreational distractions as I could get.
“When I kind of came to after this period in my life, I didn’t walk away from it with a huge Hollywood-Esq epiphany, I just felt somewhat quietly healed. The album isn’t about letting go of one person, relationship, or situation, in particular, it’s about learning how to live without feeling like a prisoner in your own skin and learning how to let go of the parts of you that cling on desperately, only to simmer and hurt. Don’t get me wrong, I’m deeply flawed, but self-acceptance and letting life ride is my key to finding inner peace and that exists somewhere between calm and chaos…maybe?”
The artwork looks like this:
And the band have shared a new track set to appear on it. That is “Jealousy”, a gritty, open and honest piece of modern rock vibrancy. Gripping lyrics wrapped up in a 90’s slacker shell, it’s a brutally raw and flamboyant effort that builds to a crushing conclusion.
Murray had this to say about it:
“Jealousy was the last song written for the record and I’m so glad it made the cut! I took a lot of inspiration from Hole and Weezer and was looking for an arena-ready, alt rock number that took heavy influence from the 90’s but wanted to pull the rug from people’s feet during the outro. We thought it would be cool to ditch the guitars at the end and add 808’s instead of going down the more traditional route. Lyrically, it’s very much rooted in ego, pride and ‘doom-scrolling’. I didn’t think I was a jealous guy until I was involved in a tremendously unhealthy situation with a partner. Couple that with spending too much time on the Internet, and all hell breaks loose!”
The album is also set to feature “Ache”, which also features Architects’ Sam Carter:
And “GIMME”:
