In Conversation With #241 - Amber Run
Amber Run have just released their new album ‘How To Be Human’ via Tripel.
As far as album titles go ‘How To Be Human’ might sound like a grand sentiment but, when you boil it down, it’s the purest conundrum of them all. How to be happy. How to be content. How to find peace within the world and, crucially, within yourself. They’re concerns that plague us all and ones that were at the forefront of frontman Joe Keogh’s mind as Amber Run began to piece together their latest album. “You know those annoying emails you get that are like, ‘How to become a millionaire in one month’. ‘How to get abs in six seconds,” he chuckles. “I was like, I wish someone would just tell me how to get by and live on the centre line and how to just continue.”
While ‘How To Be Human’ tackles some of Amber Run’s darkest moments yet, it’s also the band’s most holistic work to date: a document of the emotional changes that come with approaching your thirties, told with the increased clarity of leaving the maelstrom of your twenties behind. “That bridge from your late-twenties into 30 is where real life starts turning up and this record is our interpretation of that,” Joe notes. “There’s good and there’s bad and there’s all this shit in the middle, because no person is just one thing and that’s what we wanted to show.”
They took a moment to talk to us about how the album came together.
Hey there Amber Run - how are you? So your album is out now - how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
Hey there! I’m good, we’re good thanks. We’ve been working on this record for literally years so sometimes you lose a bit of perspective but to have the finished product finally out there and seeing everyone’s responses has been a delight.
It is called ‘How To Be Human’ - what is the meaning behind that?
It came from that listlessness that I think everyone feels reaching their late 20s/early 30s questioning ourselves whether we were on the right course and then being locked indoors didn’t help. So the record process was an extension of that as a kind of exploration of what it means to be human. It’s okay to have doubts, or to try something and not succeed every time.
Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
It was done over so, so many different spots. We started in my kitchen when you were first allowed to see people again, then we did a bit down in Brighton, a large portion of it at Up Top Studios and then finished it off at RAK Studios. It was quite a journey. The title track ‘How To Be Human’ we actually attempted in one of our first recording sessions of the record campaign but it wasn’t quite right. We went at it from a few different angles because we knew there was something great in that tune but we just hadn’t quite realised it. It all came together in the last session at RAK and I’m really pleased with what we’ve come out with.
What are the key themes and influences on the album?
I think one of the key themes is that life throws quite a lot at you and it’s normal to feel blindsided by it sometimes. As long as you’re doing your best then you’re doing your best. It’s also a lot more positive than our previous work, looking at new beginnings and chasing new opportunities. Thematically the inspiration with our own experiences as we head into new chapters of our lives and the joy and pain that brings. Sonically it was super varied with all of us bringing different ideas to the table, from Arcade Fire to Tyler the Creator.
If the album could be the soundtrack to any film - which one would it be and why?
Good question… Shit, I really don’t know. I want to say something like The Lobster but that has such a good soundtrack already. Yeah, I’ll go with the Lobster. Tonally I think it would fit with the happy sad nature of the film and some of the themes addressed in both (sort of) align.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the album - if so, which one and why?
The lyric that immediately springs to mind is from ‘Funeral’: “Not another funeral, too young to fill another hole, on your body flowers fall and they’re lovely but I wish someone could explain where my friend has gone.” In my opinion Joe took a massive step lyrically with this record and there are a bunch that I could’ve picked.
Now the album is out there - what next?
We’re touring around the UK in April and Europe in May. Tickets are going fast so if you’re reading this and you want to come see us definitely grab one soon if you haven’t already. We can’t wait to get out there and show everyone how the new stuff translates into the live show, it’s gonna be a whole lot of fun.
