Crows

Praise for Reason Enough:

“The music is captivating and I defy anyone to not, after first listen, immediately press play again on ‘Reason Enough’.” CLASH 9/10

“Their monochrome world is bleakly beautiful.” Classic Rock 7/10

“It’s the tightest and broadest they’ve sounded, with punk sensibilities wrapping themselves around ‘Reason Enough”s arena-ready post-punk propulsion.” DORK ★★★★

“The most melodic, hook-filled and engaging record of their career.” LOUDER ★★★★

“Reason Enough is Crows’ most cohesive and fully realised work to date.” The Line Of Best Fit 8/10

“the latest album emphatically displays why they’ve been underground favourites for so long and their broad pull.” Far Out ★★★★

“Crows are back and this is their finest work to date.” Northern Exposure 5/5

With their UK/EU tour starting next week, today Crows release their long-awaited third album Reason Enough via Bad Vibrations, which has been met with “their finest work to date”. They’re more refined, cohesive, and it’s the most mature Crows have ever sounded.

This is the album that the band have taken the longest to write – partly because they had to fit the exercise around working full-time jobs, but also because of the freedom that was afforded to them around this specific project, which takes the post-punk four piece’s historically adrenaline-fuelled sound into fresh territory.

For the occasion, James Cox (vocals), Steve Goddard (guitar), Jith Amarasinghe (bass) and Sam Lister (drums), swapped their usual rehearsal space, a small studio in Homerton, East London, for the cavernous walls of a “weird little studio” – as Goddard puts it – in Stroud, Gloucestershire. More specifically, a former Catholic church and convent. The band parked themselves up in the church’s crypt, which was more conducive to inspiring the foundations for Reason Enough. Armed with dozens of ideas, they returned to London in a bid to finesse them all.

“Having a more relaxed approach this time around meant we could explore different stuff,” Goddard says. “We don’t want to sound the same as we did before – this is our third album, we have to move on. And so we fucked around a bit more.”

The result: a concise, 10-track album which goes a long way to show Crows’ sonic versatility. Their 2019 debut, Silver Tongues, put them firmly on the map as a punk band with an indomitable spirit and a penchant for abrasion, which they performed across the UK in support of IDLES on their sold-out tour. 2022’s follow-up, Beware Believers, built on this mood and then some, as Crows fleshed out their high octane sound and laced it with sharp, political lyricism.

It’s more melodic work than what Crows have previously done, “rather than being all-out punk”, as Goddard puts it. The band worked with Mercury Prize-winning producer Andy Savours, who’s previously collaborated with the likes of Black Country, New Road and My Bloody Valentine, on the project. A master of the polished indie record, Savours put a glossy sheen onto Reason Enough, without compromising the record’s intrinsic grit. “It feels less lo-fi, cleaner and more well-rounded as a result,” Cox says.

Crows’ sonic inspirations here are free-wheeling. Having written many of the songs on the album fresh off the back of time spent touring in America, the band were listening to plenty of self-described “indie bangers”.

“We never set out to achieve a specific type of sound,” Goddard says. “We preferred for things to take their natural course.” For Steve, guitar-wise, this meant experimenting with space and “being able to play picked out parts rather than full chords,” allowing for reverb, sound and instrumentation to play their own roles across the album, tying its songs together with subtle theatricality.

While political threads have long run through Crows’ music, lyrically, Cox drew heavily from a difficult year, both personally and in terms of facing up to a heavygoing news cycle. “I went pretty unhappy with the lyrics and vocals,” he says. “I wanted to moan a bit. If the last album was angrier, this one is definitely sadder.” Indeed, a general sense of malaise, isolation, unease and a desire for growth in spite of it all permeate Reason Enough – an album which strikes a satisfying balance between existentialism, soul-searching, and a discerning brand of indie-rock.

“We’re doing the same thing, but a lot better,” Cox says. “This is Crows in high definition.”

Crows have arrived. ‘Reason Enough’, their third studio album, is the one the band have taken the longest to write. Partly because they had to fit the exercise around working full-time jobs, but also because of the freedom that was afforded to them around this specific project, which takes the post-punk four piece’s historically adrenaline-fuelled sound into fresh territory. Though the band’s punk spirit remains intact, sonically, they’re more refined and cohesive than ever; it’s the most mature Crows have ever sounded, without compromising any of their intrinsic grit. Following 2022's 'Beware Believers' and their 2019 debut 'Silver Tongues', 'Reason Enough' lands September 27th 2024 via Bad Vibrations.

For the occasion, James Cox (vocals), Steve Goddard (guitar), Jith Amarasinghe (bass) and Sam Lister (drums), swapped their usual rehearsal space, a small studio in Homerton, East London, for the cavernous walls of a “weird little studio” – as Goddard puts it – in Stroud, Gloucestershire. More specifically, a former Catholic church and convent where the band parked themselves up in the crypt, which was more conducive to inspiring the foundations for ‘Reason Enough’. “Having a more relaxed approach this time around meant we could explore different stuff,” Goddard says. “We don’t want to sound the same as we did before – this is our third album, we have to move on. And so we fucked around a bit more.”

Armed with dozens of ideas, they returned to London in a bid to finesse them all alongside Mercury Prize-nominated producer and master of the polished indie record Andy Savours (Black County, New Road, My Bloody Valentine). The result: a concise, 10-track album which goes a long way to show Crows’ sonic versatility. It’s more melodic work than what Crows have previously done, “rather than being all-out punk”, as Goddard puts it. “It feels less lo-fi, cleaner and more well-rounded as a result,” Cox adds.

Lyrically, Cox drew heavily from a difficult year, both personally and in terms of facing up to a heavygoing news cycle. “I went pretty unhappy with the lyrics and vocals,” he says. “I wanted to moan a bit. If the last album was angrier, this one is definitely sadder.” Indeed, a general sense of malaise, isolation, unease and a desire for growth in spite of it all permeate ‘Reason Enough’ – an album which strikes a satisfying balance between existentialism, soul-searching, and a discerning brand of indie-rock: “We’re doing the same thing, but a lot better. This is Crows in high definition.”