Power: Twin Atlantic on how synesthesia and resilient DIY spirit inspired their fifth album

"It felt like we were a new band with an insane drive to make music"

Twin Atlantic have told NME how their upcoming album ‘Power’ was influenced by synesthesia and the need to go-it-alone for the first time.

The fifth album from the Glasgow rockers is set for release on January 24 2020, with futuristic synth-rock anthem ‘Novocaine’ becoming the first track to emerge from the new record.

Arriving three years after ‘GLA‘, the album saw the band recording in their own purpose built studio, having split from Red Bull Records after a decade.

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“We found ourselves without a record deal for the first time and we had the freedom of no one telling us looking over our shoulder. Having this studio, it felt like we were a new band with an insane drive to make music,” frontman Sam McTrusty told NME. “We just wanted to go in and learn how the studio worked, because we’ve only ever used other people’s. It felt like an addiction, it felt so fun just putting these parts together. We’ve been upgrading it as it goes along.”

As for the record itself, McTrusty explained how things took an unexpected turn after he realised that he experiences synesthesia. The sensory phenomenon, which is also experienced by Lorde, means that the singer sees sound as colour.

“At the end of ‘GLA’, I’d been reading a lot about synesthesia,” McTrusty explained. “It was one of the few good things I’d been reading on social media and was like, ‘Fucking hell, that’s exactly hell what I’ve got’, especially with all the stimulation. When I listen back to things, I can see these different colour palettes and stuff in my head.”

He continued: “I suddenly became conscious of that, so I tried to start with a limited palate of colours. The sound came from having these strict rules, and because we didn’t have an A&R man or someone at a record label giving us their input, we needed those strict rules so I kinda just made them up subconsciously.”

Despite splitting from Red Bull, McTrusty also admits that their self-proclaimed status as outsiders helped them to go forward for the band’s next chapter.

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“It feels strange to call it a split, but I guess that’s kinda what it was,” he said. “We’d come to the end of the road with Red Bull and we knew it when we made our last record, we were just on completely different pages. I always make this joke, and it is a joke, that we’re one of the last rock bands in the UK who tour in a van and then play at festivals.

“We never quite fitted into any genre. Being from Scotland, tucked up north of the wall and away from the slippery industry folk in London. There’s always been a strong DIY scene in Glasgow and our main thing has just been to make fucking amazing music. It was an acceptance to split from Red Bull, so we’ve gone against the grain.

He continued: “We always had the mindset of an independent label on a major label. We’re here again ten years taking risks for no other reason than the fact it makes you feel fucking alive.”

Twin Atlantic will head out on tour in March 2020. Check out the dates in full below.

March 2020

3 – Motherwell, Concert Hall
4 – Aberdeen, Music Hall
6 – Dundee, Fat Sams
7 – Kilmarnock, Grand Hall
9 – Newcastle, Riverside
10 – Manchester, Academy 2
11 – Sheffield, The Leadmill
13 – Cardiff, The Tramshed
14 – Oxford, O2 Academy Oxford
15 – Leicester, O2 Academy Leicester
17 – Bournemouth, The Old Firestation
18 – Brighton, Concorde 2
20 – London, Electric

 

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