New York, NY (Top40 Charts) UK indie/rock trio
William The Conqueror have announced their new album Excuse Me While I Vanish will release on July 28th through Chrysalis Records. Produced by the band in a playground of vintage gear and mixed by Barny Barnicott (Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, Kasabian), the resulting album's ten tracks marry earworm tunes with insistent, imperious, soaring rock shapes, punctuated by chorus hooks that are simultaneously nuanced and anthemic. Excuse Me While I Vanish is the follow-up to 2021's critically-acclaimed album
Maverick Thinker and will be available on multiple vinyl formats, CD, and streaming platforms.
William The Conqueror also unveiled today their new track "Somebody Else" along with an accompanying video filmed at Marshall Studios.
"'Somebody Else' came from a very specific memory of not knowing which version of myself I was supposed to be playing," explains frontman Ruarri Joseph. "An identity crisis in real time. It's so cathartic to play. Harry's drums absolutely beast along. He has a way of finding that extra gear just when you think it can't possibly go any higher."
Excuse Me While I Vanish very nearly didn't happen. Following the imposition of lockdown restrictions, Joseph found himself cocooned at home in Cornwall, ruminating on an uncertain creative future, watching on as his wife Mandy, a valiant mental health social worker, engaged with the all-too-real dilemmas of the pandemic-riven here and now. Her example motivated Joseph to become a temporary care worker, an experience which would provide renewed focus and influence the songwriting on the new album.
"My wife was insomniac for the first six months of lockdown, which made it impossible for me to moan or grieve the fact that everything I'd been working on for the last five years had come to a standstill. It was a much-needed perspective and made me realize what a selfish undertaking
William had been - navel-gazing with my head in the clouds when what people needed was boots firmly on the ground, preferably on the feet of someone like Mandy."
William The Conqueror's fourth album finds the indie-rock trio firing on all cylinders as Joseph confronts the thin line between creativity and madness, inspired by compassion for the real-life angels of the world. Ruarri's compelling semi-spoken vocals and swamp-blues-Seattle-scuzz guitars are propelled by the rhythm section of Naomi Holmes (bass) and Harry Harding (drums) as Excuse Me While I Vanish delivers an effortlessly winning blend of melody and ensemble dynamics, the most accomplished and undeniable
William The Conqueror album to date.
Tour Dates:
05/11 - Brighton, UK @ The Great Escape
05/12 - Perranporth, UK @ Tunes in the Dunes Festival
05/26 - Catton Hall, UK @ Bearded
Theory Festival
06/20 - Cologne, DE @ Live
Music Hall*
06/21 - Berlin, DE @ Huxley's*
06/23 - Vienna, AT @ Arena*
06/25 - Munich, DE @ Backstage Werk*
06/26 - Zurich, CH @ Kaufleuten*
06/28 - Paris, FR @ Cabaret Sauvage*
* w/
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.
