GLADBOY SHARE NEW SINGLE ‘DOIN’ ART BADLY’

Fresh from supporting English Teacher on last year's run of shows leading to their historic Mercury Prize win, Leeds’ very own garage rock 5-piece Gladboy have re-emerged with their first new material in over a year. Their return comes in the form of a new single titled ‘Doin’ Art Badly’ - a self proclaimed “ode to outsider art” that acts as the first taste of their upcoming debut album.

The concept of perfectionism is something that creatives from any discipline will be familiar with, whether it be obsessing over the mastering of a record or relentlessly tinkering over what surely must be the final draft. This blistering new single lyrically grapples with the appeal of casting those tendencies aside and creating something for the sake of creation itself.

Artists of the modern age can be forgiven for forgetting this concept entirely, as so much of their hard work that’s thrown into the chasm of publicly consumable art can be chewed up and spat out in seconds. What Gladboy tackle here is the idea of trading in anything that’s in service of an end goal, and focussing completely on the creative process as its own entity.

These themes are delivered over a suitable bed of distortion and 60s power-pop guitar tones, brought together with the familiar slacker/DIY execution that is rightfully seeing its stock rise once again in the indie underground on both sides of the Atlantic. All this creates the perfect backdrop for this imperfection rally cry.

“The track also paraphrases a guy I met at my old job who really inspired me,” lead singer George Orton explains, “I worked at an art gallery in Leeds and we had an artist from Detroit called Michael E Smith do an exhibition. One day, we came into work and all the lights were off, and all our stuff had been moved. We all thought it was weird. But it turned out it was Michael getting in the zone. We asked him why and his response was what kickstarted this song. ‘Art is trouble’.”

Gladboy will also be celebrating the release of this single at the home of all things DIY in Leeds, Wharf Chambers. They’ll be performing alongside Draags and Martin Manning on 13th December (tickets available here).

‘Doin Art Badly’, the first single from the upcoming debut album by Gladboy, is due for release on Friday 5th December.