Band Of The Week #227 - ACRES
This week’s Band of the Week is South coast four-piece ACRES - who have just released their sophomore studio album ‘Burning Throne’ via A Wolf At Your Door Records.
On the new record, guitarist Alex Freeman states:
“I am extremely proud of this record but making it wasn’t easy. I had to teach myself how to write on my own again, and knowing that it was all on me was pretty unnerving. But I feel like the pressure of the record and the frustration of being secluded due to the pandemic allowed me to create a vibe that I’ve wanted ACRES to explore for a long time, and I’m really stoked with the outcome.”
The follow up to 2019’s Lonely World is out now - the band took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together.
Hey there ACRES - how are you? So your album is out now - how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
It feels amazing! It honestly came around so quickly and we’re so stoked to finally have this record out!
It is called ‘Burning Throne’ - what is the meaning behind that?
We wrote most of this record during lockdown and like a lot of the world it felt like we had so much just taken away from us, ultimately we were only half way through our album cycle for Lonely World and we felt the band was in a really good spot and then it just stopped, you put a lot of hard work into an album and for some of us playing it live is the best part so to not be able to do that for so long really sucked!
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
We recorded it at The Ranch with our good friend Simon Jackman, the studio is pretty close to home so it seemed like the perfect place! It was mainly Alex and myself at the studio so nothing exciting really happened, it was a lot of intense 12 hour days and tesco meal deals as we were on a time schedule.
What are the key themes and influences on the album?
There was no real theme to this record, I always write from the heart and sometimes just how I’m feeling at the time. At one point I was in a really dark place whilst writing this album and suffering a lot with my mental health and I felt very alone at times so there are songs that are almost a cry for help.
If the album could be the soundtrack to any film - which one would it be and why?
Ah man, I’m honestly no film buff, but I feel whatever film it would be it would have to be dark, romantic and very dramatic!
Do you have a favourite lyric on the album - if so, which one and why?
I don’t necessarily have a favourite lyric, I have favourite songs. Nothing is a favourite of mine, me and Alex wrote it together over zoom and it was one of the songs I had more input on instrumentally so that was cool, it also has our good friend Garrett Russell on from Silent Planet and I love that dude and his band so he really made that stand out for me, it’s also well fun live!
Now the album is out there - what next?
We’re touring with Dayseeker and Love Is Noise in May and we’re super excited for that, we recently had to postpone our album tour so that’s also being rescheduled for later this year! We’re also back writing new music!
