Following the release of recent singles “SLUGLIFE”, “PLAINTIVE NATIVE” and “DRAGGED UP A HILL (and thrown down the other side)”, BIG SPECIAL today announce their new EP, O’JOY!, out Friday 5 June via SO Recordings/Civilians. Presave the EP here.
Today the duo also share a new track from the project, “ONLY FREE WHEN SLEEPING”, available to stream here.
Comprised of vocalist Joe Hicklin and drummer Callum Moloney, BIG SPECIAL describe O’JOY! as a companion piece to the work that has defined their rapid rise in recent years.
Speaking about the EP, the band said: “We’ve moved real fast these last few years. Our first album was a long, drawn-out process of contextualising 30 years of experience into a piece of work that represents us, the time we occupy, and the history that led us here. Our second album was a spur-of-the-moment reflection on how our lives were changing, written performed and put together in a moment between all the other moments of great change, a piece of work like a fence post in a time of our lives and this time in life where we stand as individuals and in a history of working class stock.
Speaking about the new single “ONLY FREE WHEN SLEEPING”, the band add: “This is a head-down walking song. When all that shows up in observation is negative, when all news is bad news and you just look at your feet and curse the cruelty and the faff of the modern day and all the days before that lead to this feeling. When you just wanna go to bed and let your dreams make up a different story for you to smile at, just for a little bit, until you wake again. Head down, stomp through another day.”
“ONLY FREE WHEN SLEEPING” is out now and streaming everywhere. O’JOY will be available Friday 5 June via SO Recordings/Civilians.
