Photo: Cal McIntyre
Emerging from Oxford in 1988, Ride, the quartet composed of Andy Bell, Mark Gardener, Laurence Colbert, and Steve Queralt, swiftly ascended to the zenith of the British shoegaze pantheon. With a sound characterized by its diaphanous, distortion-rich harmonies and contemplative verses, they carved a distinctive niche within the burgeoning genre.
Ride now presents Last Frontier, the newest track from their eagerly awaited LP, Interplay,”set to debut on March 29, 2024, through Wichita Recordings and PIAS. While the song harbours traces of the band’s iconic shoegaze roots, it ventures further into indie-rock and dreampop territories, reminiscent of the sounds of The Lightning Seeds, The Housemartins, and Inspiral Carpets. Last Frontier wraps listeners in a dreamlike aura, stirring nostalgia and introspection with ethereal melodies and swirling guitars, evoking a spectrum of emotions, from euphoric immersion to poignant longing.
“This was the runt of the litter of the very first jam session from Mark’s OX4 Studio, and I didn’t even include it on my shortlist of the best tracks,” says singer Andy Bell. “It was our producer, Richie Kennedy, who saw the potential of the song, and we attacked this with a vengeance at Vada Studio. A complete revamp of the backing track and arrangement was needed and we took it right back to basics, more towards a pounding Joy Division feel…For the topline, I tried improvising at the mic, singing it all different ways, and coming up with new parts on the spot. I felt really exposed but kind of said to myself, ‘you’re among friends, it’s good to push yourself to try new ways to write.’ It feels different to every vocal I’ve ever done. It’s still a new way of working for me but it’s something I want to continue trying as I think it makes for better vocal lines; a good mixture of written and improvised.”
Watch the visualizer for “Last Frontier” below:
Interplay represents the third studio album from Ride since their 2014 reunion, coming on the heels of Weather Diaries in 2017 and This Is Not A Safe Place in 2019. The band’s landmark album, Nowhere, released in 1990, secured their position as pivotal figures in the shoegaze genre. Their journey progressed with albums like Going Blank Again in 1992. After disbanding in 1996, the members of Ride reunited in 2014, reconfirming their significant impact on the alternative rock landscape.
Interplay is out on March 29th, 2024.
Accompanying this release, Ride announces a series of new performances across North America, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Catch Ride on tour this Spring and Autumn!
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