In Conversation With #182 - Superlove
Bristol band Superlove have just released their debut album ‘Colours’ via Rude Records.
‘Colours’ is every part an album made by people who grew up in a world of MP3 players, illegal downloads and trading songs with friends in the playground via infrared. Eclectic but never claustrophobic, it sees Superlove doing whatever they want, regardless of genre and combining those lyrical emotions with the notion of the colours that go with them.
It’s not just the sonics that have finally fallen into place on ‘Colours’. Lyrically, Superlove have really opened themselves up on this record.
Their debut covers social media burnout, Gen Z confusion, mental health and fractured relationships. “When we started, we’d just turned twenty and wanted to have fun. Because of how special the band felt though, we knew we needed to talk about things that meant something on this album. We wanted to say something important, while trying to be as positive as possible.”
They took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together.
Hey Superlove, how are you? So your album is out now, how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
We’re good thank you for asking, not really sure how we go here but hey! It’s great, it’s taken up most of our brain capacity for the last few years so a small weight feels lifted for sure. We’ve definitely been through all the motions with it but it’s out and there’s nothing we can do anymore haha.
It is called ‘Colours’ - what is the meaning behind that?
Colours was a title that Jonathan just threw around when we were joking about what we would rename the band if we absolutely had to. I suggested it be a great album title as a lot of the songs were taking shape at the time and it was becoming more apparent that each song had such a strong individual identity. We both imagine certain songs and feelings as colours and just thought it be perfect to name this collection of songs. Sort of like how a colour wheel holds all different colours this album holds all these different styles of music.
Where was the album recorded? Any behind the scenes stories you are happy to share with us from the creative process?
We recorded it in two parts, first half was at an old countryside house in the southwest we stayed in for a week or so. Second half was at a huge barn house in the wonderful Kent countryside for about 3 weeks. We felt the pressure of being in a studio a bit alien for us as we’ve always recorded a lot of stuff from home. Plus it was so cool to wake up and wonder down to the back room where everything was setup and just power through some songs. Whilst we were away the second time it was the Euros and for me personally that was really cool to be recording when England got to the final.
What are the key themes and influences on the album?
A lot of the albums themes come from places of encouragement for loved ones and friends. I feel it’s quite uplifting in a way and our lyrics are always really conversational to give our music a personal feel to it. Some of our favourite bands make the most varied albums and we wanted to do just that to be honest. It keeps it really interesting for us and we never feel like it’s unnatural to cross genres.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
I think the chorus lyrics for baby bird or world of wonder. They both have levels of escapism in the form of flying and nature and that’s something we really love writing about. Just imagining yourself getting away from it all.
If your album could be the soundtrack to any film, which one and why?
Amazing question. Either the Spider-Man No Way Home for all the royalties it would bring in. Or something like King Kong for a proper laugh.
Now the album is out there, what next for you?
Next up is get out on tour and go makeup for all the shows we’ve missed out on the last few years. We’ve got loads of new song ideas floating around too so many just crack on with releasing more music.
