The Xcerts have announced they will be releasing a covers EP, So No One Told You Life Was Gonna Be This Way, on 15th January 2021 via Raygun Records.
Alongside the EP announcement they have released the first single; a cover of Starship‘s We Built This City.
Speaking about the track and the extra message behind it, vocalist Murray Macleod says: “I’ve spent many nights screaming this song at the top of my lungs in bars and on dance floors but i never really gave the lyrical content much thought or time. Our manager initially pitched it to me and i thought musically i could do something quite contrasting to the original but it wasn’t until i actually read the words i thought i could do something emotionally charged with it. We, along with so many others are feeling the effects of not being able to work within the live sector of the music industry and lines like ‘we just want to dance here, someone stole the stage’ / ‘who rides the wrecking balls into our guitars?’, really hit differently now. I hope music lovers across the globe who listen to this song feel hopeful, defiant and unified when they hear the words “we built this city on rock and roll”, because despite what certain members of the British government think, we really fucking did.”
Check out the self-directed video for the track below.
The track-listing will be completed with the trio’s take on The Ramones‘ I Wanna Be Sedated, Avril Lavigne‘s Complicated and The Cure‘s Inbetween Days. “Since the first lockdown, I’ve found it fascinating that we are interpreting beloved songs and lyrics, poems, movies, books, tv shows, pieces of art, so differently because of the current climate. The EP features four songs that we’ve always loved and found comfort in, but during this time the lyrics have presented themselves in a different light and each song has taken on a whole new meaning. We wanted to document this time somehow whilst we drive ourselves up the wall waiting to record our next project so we holed ourselves up with our bud Ryan Burnett for a few days, perfected our ‘old fashioned’ cocktail recipe and pressed record. It was super fun and carefree and it also provided the perfect excuse to finally do a duet with our girl Heights on Complicated by Avril Lavigne,” Macleod adds.
So No One Told You Life Was Gonna Be This Way was produced by Ryan Burnett and will be released ahead of The Xcerts‘ new full-length, due in 2021. Like what you hear? You can pre-save the EP from HERE.
