The Goa Express are excited to announce their long-awaited self-titled debut album. ‘The Goa Express’ will arrive in October via Communion, following a summer of festival appearances and headline shows across Europe.
The Goa Express’ debut album (which can be pre-ordered HERE) will feature new single ‘Talking About Stuff’. A melodic and sunny counterpart to the spikey punk of recent offering ‘Good Luck Charm’, ‘Talking About Stuff’ packs a similar bleary-eyed balladry to early live favourites like ‘Second Time’.
Both tasters from the debut album to date have seen playlisting from BBC 6 Music and The Goa Express will punctuate the release of ‘Talking About Stuff’ with headline performances at YES in Manchester and London’s The Lower Third on 26th and 31st May respectively.
‘Talking About Stuff’ arrives alongside a visualiser shot at The Goa Express’ recent homecoming show at The Golden Lion in Todmorden.
The Goa Express, led by Clarke alongside his brother Joe and best friends Joey, Naham and Sam, met as young teenagers in Burnley. Growing up in the rural shadow of England’s industrial north, music was a means of escape and a vessel for friendship. Their shared adolescent experiences (late gigs at The Golden Lion in Todmorden, camping underneath the cliffs at Hebden Bridge) shaped their collective attitudes and behaviours and, ultimately, the sound and spirit of their band.
Post-lockdown, the 5-piece stormed out of the gates with intent. The Goa Express played over a hundred UK/EU gigs in 2022, including stops at Glastonbury, Latitude and The Great Escape.
It was in the immediate wake of their Glastonbury debut that recent single ‘Portrait’ was put together in the Welsh village of Raglan, with the boys returning to the studio six months later to record ‘Talking About Stuff’ and ‘Good Luck Charm’ early in 2023. Both new tracks have seen Ocean Colour Scene’s Damon Minchella pairing with Tom Manning on production duties.
There is a sense of melody and a looseness in the music that brings to mind Supergrass or The La’s (for the online generation). But it is all delivered with a forward-facing urgency that places the band firmly in the year 2023. Any new young guitar band – especially from the North of England – is naturally cast into a sea of references and comparisons before barely getting a chord out. But in truth, The Goa Express are confidently breaking free of these and taking their own strides towards adding a fresh chapter to the story of modern British guitar pop.
Punctuating their status as burgeoning hometown heroes, The Goa Express can be seen performing to thousands at Burnley’s Turf Moor stadium in Bank of Dave, Netflix UK’s most watched film upon release week.
The list of tour dates and tickets, which includes a Brighton date at the Komedia on 24th November can be found HERE.
