Lip Filler today announce their new EP 'witchescrew' will be released on 24th May via Chess Club Records and share their blistering new single "followup" - following a radio premiere courtesy of Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music yesterday afternoon and early airplay from BBC Radio 1's Jack Saunders last night. Lip Filler today also announce a short run of June headline dates in London, Bristol and Manchester.
"followup" arrives in the wake of recent support slots with O. and Master Peace, being tipped for success in a number of Ones To Watch in 2024 lists, and their October 2023 single "Limelite" which will also feature on the new EP.
Drawing from a swathe of early-2000's influences, new single "followup" is Lip Filler at their uncompromising best. Offering a tantalising triad of surrealist vocal bites from George Tucker, Verity Hughes and Jude Scholefield; their collective musings over nocturnal activity – specifically diving into curiosities surrounding sleepwalking – entangled in a web of scratchy guitar jolts, punchy drum passages and glitched-out electronics.
Discussing new single "followup", the band said:
"followup is about impatience. Time is a precious thing; when we are told to wait for something sometimes we feel as though we’re not making any progress. We push ourselves to ensure we're occupying our time efficiently. Taking this to the extreme would mean avoiding sleep altogether, or sleepwalking. I think that’s how this song began to adopt more paranormal themes…
This song feels like a big turning point for us. I think we can all agree that this is the closest we’ve ever sounded to how we always wanted to sound. We’ve always tried to add an element of unpredictability to our music which followup captures really well. It’s always felt like a Frankenstein of a song; stitching it together was a nightmare. But what we ended up with feels like our most accomplished track to date."
The song's accompanying video was directed by Jude Harrison and edited by the band's own George Tucker. Speaking on the video, the band shared:
"The singers in the video are kind of trapped in their locations on their own; they’re stuck and they can’t move out of them. There’s no real sense of time in the video either, similar to how your memories aren’t organised like a calendar; different times in your life feel shorter than others based on how you’re feeling. Time flies when you’re having fun, and vice versa. All of it is stitched together by our very own George Tucker, and huge credit to Jude Harrison for helping us bring all our ideas together."
The new EP's corresponding website witchescrew.net has existed since the release of the band's 2023 self-titled debut EP, originally created as an exclusive site accessible only by scanning a QR code on the back of the EP vinyl, it ended up becoming its own entity…
"It’s a bizarre arrangement of words which creates a lot of mystery," the band note. "It lacks direct meaning, yet indirectly ties up well with a lot of lyrical themes. Many of the lyrics on this EP revolve around night-time and the paranormal, with references to sleepwalking in ‘followup’ and a mention of the Old Hag in ‘Ashtray’; a creature commonly associated with phenomenon of sleep paralysis.
"Writing the songs for our first EP felt pure; we were a close-knit group of friends from home who also had the privilege of being in a band together. Being a happy family wasn’t the reason we became musicians, though. We took this project much more seriously. We wanted this EP to sound like what we’d want other bands to be making right now if we weren’t a part of the scene."
––
Lip Filler's self-titled debut EP released back in May of 2023 was a huge statement of intent, addressing personal image, self-validation and the overstimulating nature of modern technology, through a lens of frenzied dance-punk and caustic indie-rock, all delivered with an undeniable pop flair.
Swiftly amassing a devoted and feverish following, with numerous sold-out headline shows across the capital (including their own "wall-shaking" party hosted in the band's west-London flat), 2023 also saw the band enjoy a hectic run of buzzy festival appearances including The Great Escape, Dot To Dot, Y Not, VISIONS and more.
Lip Filler have firmly established themselves as one of the most exciting new bands to surface in recent years; with key radio airplay from BBC R1 (Jack Saunders, Jess Iszatt) BBC 6 Music (Steve Lamacq, Amy Lamé), Radio X (John Kennedy) and a whirlwind of press tips from NME, So Young Magazine, CLASH Magazine, The Line Of Best Fit, Dork Magazine, The Independent, Gigwise, Whynow, The Rodeo, YUCK Magazine and more.
Lip Filler's new EP 'witchescrew' is out 24th May on Chess Club Records. New single "followup" is out now. Lip Filler play headline dates in London, Bristol and Manchester in June.
Lip Filler are: George Tucker (vocals and keys), Verity Hughes (vocals, guitar), Jude Scholefield (vocals, guitar), Theodore Pasmore (bass), Nate Wicks (drums).
|