Daytime TV — 'Zombie'

The new era of Scottish rock powerhouse Daytime TV is here, rising from the ground to consume the airwaves.

Daytime TV have sure changed a lot over the past decade. Even before their line-up adjustment and moniker change, their sound itself was beautifully fluid. Hunter and the Bear — as they were formally known — used to be a folk rock band, not unlike their ursine contemporaries Bear’s Den. Yet in 2016 their sound underwent a metamorphosis of sorts, transitioning to a darker, rockier sound with singles Who’s Gonna Hear You, Renegade and Paper Heart, the last of which served as the title track of their debut album. And now, Will Irvine, Chris Clark, and Gareth Thompson are switching it up again — constantly evolving, this time adding in an additional member in the guise of John Caddick on guitar, and creating a new band, as Daytime TV. Their latest single dropped on Friday and it’s a stunner. 

Zombie, the band’s second single after ‘side effects’ dropped at the tail end of 2020, is exactly what you’d imagine: gritty, oppressive, and all-consuming — not to mention infectious. Vocalist Will Irvine’s raspy tones ooze charm over haunting instrumentals and distorted bass notes that seem to just creep up and surround you, as the song builds to a towering guitar-scendo; twinkling notes glimmering in the atmospheric gloom that the band creates. ‘The needle in my side is a vaccination’ Irvine croons, ‘and I pour my medicine out/ sucking blood from my neck like you wanted baby.’ — a helpless victim to the forces in life that relentlessly sap your energy, endlessly grinding you down.

Yet the track isn’t about zombies in the literal, horror movie trope sense. Rather, it’s about an addiction to technology and social media. 

‘Zombie is such an important song for us’, Irvine explains; ‘it’s our comment on the state of society from a societal perspective. The lack of human contact. Reliance on technology. Suppressing emotions. It’s left us all feeling a bit dead behind the eyes... Everyone puts on a brave face but you never know what’s going on behind that mask.’

Despite being written before the pandemic, the song could not be more prophetic as pubs and gyms reopen and we emerge into greater society again, hopefully for good. 

This track comes at the helm of a recently re-arranged tour, now taking place in November 2021:
4th Edinburgh - The Mash House
5th Inverness - Ironworks 
6th Glasgow - King Tuts Wah Wah Hut
7th Glasgow - King Tuts Wah Wah Hut
9th Manchester - Deaf Institute 
10th Leicester - O2 Academy2 
11th Leeds - Brudenell Social Club 
12th Bristol -  Thekla
14th Exeter - Cavern 
15th London - Oslo Hackney
16th St Albans - The Horn
18th Birmingham - The Castle and Falcon
19th Newcastle - Think Tank?

 Words by James O’Sullivan

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