BERRIES

This Friday, BERRIES return with a second glimpse into their s/t new album, in the shape of new single ‘Balance’.

A tempered and touching acoustic lullaby by the trio, it marks something of a handbrake turn from the sound and fury of previous single, ‘Watching Wax’.

“Let’s balance out time like we said we would” coos vocalist Holly Carter, atop a single laden with silky guitar lines, hushed harmonies, and a pin-drop atmosphere.

Urging us to find that time to sit back and enjoy the moment, BERRIES say of the track:

“Balance talks of those promises we make ourselves. Filling our time with things we want to do, not just need to do. It’s quite easy to get caught up in busy schedules, rushing around with busy brains but this song reminds us to stop and take it all in.”

Unlike anything else the band have released previously, it arrives as a tantalising new insight into their highly anticipated second album: ‘BERRIES’, which is due for release on 18th October via the Xtra Mile Recordings label.

As its eponymous title makes clear, ‘BERRIES’, is the sound of a band determined to make a statement with their second full-length outing. While the band have never shied away from brutally honest admissions or difficult subject matters like struggles with mental health, ‘BERRIES’ finds them weaponising them into a set of fearlessly assertive tracks that seize strength from darkness. As BERRIES explain:

“This album is about battling intrusive thoughts and finding contentment in your day, however big or small those moments are. It’s a journey to finding your own space and being comfortable in it. We haven’t held back with this album – it's raw, honest, and a true reflection of BERRIES.”

Teaming up with production legend Adrian Bushby (Foo Fighters, Muse, Everything Everything), who took on mixing duties for the record, listeners will almost certainly feel that turbo-boost coursing through the veins of BERRIES 2.0.

While veering between Riot Grrrl-esque discordance and thunderous grunge-rock anthems ripe for the big rooms, ‘BERRIES’ also finds a band spreading their wings with sonic explorations into shapeshifting math-rock (as on opener “Barricades”), epic post-rock nods (on closer “Crumpled Clothes”), through shades of Power-Pop (as on the infectious “Narrow Tracks”), and even tender, unadorned acoustica (as on “Balance”). Reflecting of making ‘BERRIES’, the band add:

“We really pushed ourselves creatively and out of our comfort zone, especially with the acoustic track and working with mixing engineer Adrian Bushby. We’re super proud of what we’ve written and created.”

Following a spate of recent shows road-testing new material in support of punk/rock legends the likes of The Subways, Skinny Lister, Feeder, and Sleeper, plus Newcastle noiseniks The Pale White, BERRIES are now ready to take their latest work out on the road for a series of headline dates of their own.

With 8 dates planned for October and November, following the release of ‘BERRIES’, catch the band performing new material and more

BERRIES are a jagged rock trio made up of Holly Carter, Lauren Cooper and Lexi Clark. Winding off-kilter garage rock melodies around uplifting messages about what it takes to overcome mental health battles, the band released their debut album in 2022, ‘How We Function’, to glowing reviews. Gaining praise from the likes of Record Collector, The List and The Crack, the album was awarded four out of five stars by Louder Than War who dubbed it “a really well put together debut album that rocks hard and gets its message across succinctly, with a bristling beat and an intelligence that it takes some bands a few albums to achieve”. The band also delivered an exhilarating Radio X Session on John Kennedy’s show. Setting fervent expectations for its follow-up, BERRIES have returned to the Xtra Mile Recordings label for the release of their eponymous second album, ‘BERRIES’, which will arrive on 18 October 2024.