CAST‘s third album, ‘Magic Hour’, is released on May 17 through Polydor. It will be preceded by a new single, ‘Beat Mama’, on April 26 which frontman John Power describes as “a call to everyone, a beat for everyone to move to, like the old Kia-Ora advert with the dog and the crows”.
A dance remix of the track has also been done by the JBO team of Pete Heller and Terry Farley and will be released later this year. ‘Beat Mama’ is backed with B-sides ‘Get On You’, ‘Three Nines Are 28’, ‘Hoedown’ and ‘Whiskey Song’. A video is currently being filmed in Miami with Howard Greenall, who has previously worked with Soundgarden.
Power predicts the video will be “orange and kind of like the Pied Piper”.
Cast recorded the 12-track ‘Magic Hour’ album with Pixies producer Gil Norton. Composer David Arnold, who has worked with Bjork, Propellerheads and David McAlmont, provided string arrangements which were partly written by Power.
The full tracklisting is
‘Beat Mama’ ‘Compared To You’ ‘She Falls’ ‘Dreamer’ ‘Magic Hour’ ‘Company Man’ ‘Alien’ ‘Higher’ ‘Chasing The Day’ ‘Feeling Remains’ ‘Burn The Light’ ‘Hideaway’
Power said that the band would be playing secret shows, probably in Liverpool, Manchester and London, before announcing a full-scale UK tour around the LP’s May release.
The band will also play this year’s V99 and T In The Park festivals.