The Utopia Strong' anticipated new album 'International Treasure' is being released on 10 June and the band have just revealed a second track from the collection of songs.
The euphoric 'banger' of a track is called 'Castalia' and you can watch the absorbing video made by Teeth of the Sea's Mike Bourne above.
'International Treasure' is being released on LTD LP and CD. You can preorder on Pink vinyl via the link below plus there will be Yellow vinyl and Black vinyl versions available from your favourite record shop:
Kavus said this about the track and video:
"Castalia was one of the first tunes we started for International Treasure, it felt so optimistic and forgiving which was such a tonic during the somber period in which the album was recorded. Castalia initially felt at odds with the rest of the album which generally has a much bleaker, melancholic tone -to our ears at least- but by putting it in as the last tune it somehow makes sense of everything that went before.
It has this end of the night kind of feeling, it put us in mind of Orbital's Belfast or Ashra's Sunrain. Steve and I thought it would sound perfect as the last tune we'd play in a DJ set, in fact initially I wanted to call it 'Last Song Of The Night' but thankfully Mike wasn't having any of it! The vocal at the end once again comes from Katharine Blake who sang on the last piece of our debut album, Moonchild. We liked the conceptual continuity of that but also, along with the use of acoustic instruments, the way it humanises the track too.
Mike Bourne, who created the video, has been a friend before we were even a band. It was him who inspired Steve to take up the modular synthesiser in the first place. We loved his work anyway and he'd created an astonishing video for The Holy Family, another Rocket band Mike York and I are involved with, so we were very keen to work with him. He'd specifically asked to do the video for Castalia and knowing his work we gave him a free hand. I think the end results absolutely crystalise the vibe and atmosphere of the piece, we couldn't be happier."
The Utopia Strong's up-and-coming live dates are as follows – plus there are more very more exciting 'happenings' to be announced over the coming days:
June 04 / Future Yard / Birkenhead
June 15 / Hare & Hounds / Birmingham
June 16 / Strange Brew / Bristol
June 17 / The Garage / London (Supporting Magma)
June 18 / The Garage / London (Supporting Magma)
June 19 / Band On The Wall / Manchester (Supporting Magma)
June 29 / South Street / Reading
June 30 / Green Door Store / Brighton
July 01 / The Cornish Bank / Falmouth
July 02 / New Lion Brewery / Dartington
July 03 / Junction3 / Cambridge
July 20 / Arts Centre / Colchester
August 24 / Southampton / The Joiners
August 26 / Cardiff / Clwb Ifor Bach
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