The Zutons are today sharing ‘Pauline’, a new track taken from their forthcoming album The Big Decider, out 26th April.
As the album’s lead single ‘Creeping On The Dancefloor’ continues to make an impact on UK radio – with playlisting at BBC Radio 2 and Absolute, a Record of The Week slot at Radio X, and spins across BBC 6 Music and Virgin – ‘Pauline’ arrives flanked by breezy sun-kissed melodies and an earworm saxophone riff.
Lead singer and guitarist Dave McCabe says: “We went to Palm Springs for a band holiday a few years ago. We had mushrooms and it was one of the best days of my life. I wrote the song a few months later. Pauline was the first song we worked on for the album as a band, so it gave us momentum. I was listening to a lot of Hot Chocolate at the time I wrote it, and I think that shows. It’s been going down great on the tour, it’s already a live favourite in the set, it’s always great to get that feedback from an audience, that’s when you know you’re on to a winner.”
THE ZUTONS first album together for 16 years, The Big Decider, is out 26th April and was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with legendary songwriter and producer Nile Rodgers, alongside the band’s original producer Ian Broudie. The multi-platinum selling band released three studio albums between 2004 and 2008, scoring 9 UK Top 40 singles including two Top 10s with ‘Why Won’t You Give Me Your Love?’ and the all- conquering ‘Valerie’, the latter a triple-platinum hit for Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse.
The Big Decider comes into view as an album of stark significance to the band, completed by Dave McCabe (guitar, lead vocals), Abi Harding (saxophone, vocals) and Sean Payne (drums, vocals). Written against the backdrop of a decade and a half’s worth of lived experience, it is born under the weight of family tragedies, lives lost and created, reality checks, and home truths faced up to and stared down. Wrestled into shape under the kind of steam that only decades-long friendships – with all their messy fall-outs, make-ups, breakdowns and ultimately love – can muster, The Big Decider became the sound of water passing under the bridge, and love for music, love for each other, and love for creating together becoming the most important thing of all.
Talking about the new album, lead singer and guitarist Dave McCabe says: “Working with Nile was just an amazing experience, he gave me a confidence that I’ve never felt before making a record. He’s very laid-back as a person and a good listener. On the song ‘Disappear’ , I wrote a spoken word piece about The Zutons travelling the stars and galaxies asking the most powerful question in the universe, “Why?”. I asked Nile if he’d read it out over the top of the end section of the song, thinking he’d just say no. But he jumped in the vocal booth with his chain around his neck and his sunglasses on and did about 20 different takes, all in different styles of himself. It was mind-blowing! It was as though he really does travel around the universe in some spaceship and just makes music in his spare time. He’s just one of the coolest people I’ve ever met.
It was great to reconnect with Ian Broudie on this record as well. He told me the demo of Big Decider brought a tear to his eye and that’s why he said yes to working with us again. It was one of the first songs we wrote for the album so getting that reaction from Ian made me feel like we were doing something right. The song spoke for itself.”
The Zutons – The Big Decider album tracklisting
1.Creeping On The Dancefloor
2. Pauline
3. Water
4. In Your Arms
5. Disappear
6. Company
7. The Big Decider
8. Rise
9. Best Of Me
Pre-order new album The Big Decider HERE
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Photo credit – Jonathan Turton