After more than thirty years in the music industry, British rock act The Wildhearts have seen their fair share of trouble.
Unapologetically led by enigmatic frontman Ginger, The Wildhearts are widely recognized as one of the finest acts to come out of Britain in that time and have built a loyal and dedicated fan base with a mixture of driving, catchy tunes and memorable live performances.
After releasing Renaissance Man – their first album in a decade – in 2019 The Wildhearts enjoyed their highest charting album since 1994, in the process setting off a chain of events that returned their music to the forefront and the retention of their classic line-up of Ginger, CJ, Ritchie and Danny combining to deliver the recently released 21st Century Love Songs which has again sparked renewed interest in the band.
Ginger joined HEAVY for a fun and informative chat to talk about all things in the world of The Wildhearts.
“I dunno. It’s odd,” he laughed when asked about 21st Century Love Songs. “We got back together recently, like a few years ago, with the original line-up – or what people call the classic line-up – and we did an album called Renaissance Men which felt like our first album. It felt like a statement of intent. We didn’t know what the critics would make of it, but it was all about us. This feels like our second album again. Back in the ’90s, our second album, we kind of pushed the boat out a bit and started doing music that we thought might challenge us and not be so typical. Again, we confused the critics (laughs). With this one we’ve basically tried to cram about ten songs into every song, so it didn’t sound like any other record that people are listening to, and I think we succeeded. I think we did well with this one. I like it.”
In the full interview, Ginger talks more about the new album, internal pressure following up a high selling album, the three songs released and how they relate to the album as a whole, allowing the songs time to grow before recording them, the musical climate that gave birth to The Wildhearts, their upcoming tour and more.
