It's not every day that a chart-topping pop band invites you to their studio to hear tracks that aren't even finished yet. So, when The Hoosiers asked us to join them in a secret location to have a sneaky listen to their second album, we were more than just a little bit excited.
And, before you roll your eyes and think to yourself 'yeah whatever, it's not 2007 anymore', we'd like to reassure readers that their new stuff is not a rehash of The Hoosiers of old. They've not so much gone back to the drawing board, but rather made their quirky pop sound a whole lot more danceable.
From the opening synths of new single Choices, their shift in musical style is immediately apparent. With a beat that's impossible not to tap your foot along to, it's so undeniably catchy that it's already had the seal of approval from the notoriously hard-to-please Perez Hilton. The band explained that the song was based around an idea that they had recorded onto a phone and that it came towards the very end of the recording process.
Giddy Up, which they describe as a throw-back to 'girl power songs', keeps up the fast pace, with the electronic production providing a surprising, yet complimentary element to their typical songwriting style.
Bumpy Ride is potentially the second single which, with its layered vocals, has more than a touch of Queen about it. A pure sonic blast of positivity, it climaxes with a spooky atmospheric vocal which Irwin joked was recorded in St. Paul's Cathedral.
Of the four tracks were heard, the most impressive was Unlikely Hero. With its self-deprecating chorus of 'I like everybody but not everybody likes me', the band explained that it’s a song about trying too hard to please someone else, revealing that they've embraced the theme of love for the first time on this album. Oh, and it's got an amazing 'drum-drum-drum (pause)' bit (yes, because that's the technical term, isn't it? - Ed).
Other tit bits of info from our meeting with the band:
- They were supposed to film the video for Choices in Thailand but had their plans scuppered, firstly by the unrest in Bangkok and secondly due to the volcanic ash cloud.
- Talking of which, the lyrics to Unlikely Hero make reference to 'the tip of the volcano', but this is purely coincidental as it was written before that whole 'cancelled flights' fiasco.
- The album has taken the band about sixteen months so far, but only about seven of these were spent actually recording. During this time they've worked on more than one hundred song ideas, about eighteen of which have actually been recorded. Around eleven tracks will make the final cut, with the others potentially seeing the light of day as b-sides.
- Oh, and most importantly, they're very nice guys!
The new Hoosiers album is due for release in October.
