William The Conqueror Announce New Album Details & Share New Song 'The Curse Of Friends'

Wednesday, 14th November 2018

William The Conqueror have shared new song The Curse Of Friends - the second track to be taken from their forthcoming second album, Bleeding On The Soundtrack, which comes out on February 15th, 2019."The Curse of Friends was written just before we went into the studio, so we'd never played it as a band before…" singer and songwriter Ruarri Joseph tells us. "It took some cajoling, but we persuaded Ethan to jump on board as the fourth member under the pretence it would make us play better. Really we just wanted some sick slide all over the track. He didn't let us down and it was a real pleasure to play with him. Shame it only took two takes! The song? It's about a leopard trying to change its spots."Bleeding On The Soundtrack is the second album from William the Conqueror following 2017’s Proud Disturber of the Peace. Both form parts of a trilogy of autobiographical records capturing different periods in Joseph’s life. Whilst the joyous debut celebrated a free and easy childhood spent in idyllic Cornwall (where Joseph now once again resides), Bleeding on the Soundtrack is a darker more disturbed foray into adolescence then adulthood. A tale of addiction, divorce and crossroads.The trilogy idea was inspired by Hermann Hesse’s book My Belief which housed three separate essays on innocence, disillusionment and faith with Bleeding on the Soundtrack undoubtedly representing the disillusionment period. Whilst personal song-writing has always been part of Joseph’s music from his beginnings as a solo singer-songwriter signed to Atlantic Records, separating from his own name and identity to form a three piece (alongside Harry Harding on drums and Naomi Homes on bass) has allowed Joseph a space and distance to delve deeper. The song-writing of William the Conqueror is more honest, raw and sorrowful but laced with an acerbic humour giving even the most troubled songs a cathartic energy, as Joseph explains: "That’s what Bleeding on the Soundtrack is - it's not leaving anything out, digging deep to try and cleanse myself of it all."Shifting to a three-piece has led the way to bolder lyrics but also a bolder musicality. The exact sound of William the Conqueror is hard to pinpoint. The songs have an old soul with moments of blues and dark Americana leading to heavier Southern rock and merged with the more youthful glow of indie- rock and grunge - apt given Joseph’s disillusionment period was spent immersed in the music of Kurt Cobain and Billy Corgan.Bleeding On The Soundtrack was recorded over twelve days at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios near Bath with producer Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Laura Marling, The Jayhawks).The band continue on their UK tour tomorrow night, with a show at Water Rats in London. Tickets for all shows can be found here.15 Nov - LONDON Water Rats16 Nov - WINCHESTER The Railway Inn23 Nov - GUILDFORD Star Inn24 Nov - LEWES Westgate Chapel25 Nov - LEEDS Oporto27 Nov - TYNEMOUTH Surfcafe28 Nov - SHEFFIELD Greystones29 Nov - BRISTOL Canteen30 Nov - TRURO Old Bakery StudiosPre-order Bleeding On The Soundtrack on CD, heavyweight white vinyl and digitally here.