Cut Off Your Hands To Release Second Album ‘Hollow’
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday 29th June
Cut Off Your Hands To Release Second Album ‘Hollow’ On July 18
Indie punk-pop band Cut Off Your Hands have announced the release of their eagerly awaited second full-length album Hollow on July 18th. The album features the alternative radio hit “You Should Do Better” and the new single “Fooling No One”.
The band takes a plunge into retro power pop territory
on Hollow, having been influenced by breakout ‘60s artists
like The Byrds and Bob Dylan. Not to mention the Kiwi pop
and paisley underground acts that ran with those very same
influences in the ‘80s and ‘90s, including such acts as
The Bats and Bird Nest Roys.
Hollow was self-produced at
the Auckland abode of drummer Brent Harris’ parents, where
the New Zealand natives previously recorded their debut EP
in 2006. Everything from the moonlit melodies of Echo & the
Bunnymen (“Nausea,” “Hollowed Out”) to the
shimmering 12-string guitars of The Go-Betweens (“You
Should Do Better”) can be heard in the light and dark
shades of Hollow.
“Our first record was pretty
eclectic, both lyrically and sonically,” explains front
man Nick Johnston. “We were unsure of what we wanted to
achieve with it, so we needed a producer like [former Suede
guitarist] Bernard [Butler] to tie it all together. With
Hollow, we knew exactly what we wanted to
achieve.”
Among the band’s goals for their new
direction was an expanded palette that incorporated all band
members’ ideas, with Harris and bassist Phil Hadfield
contributing a couple of cuts and guitarist Jonathan Lee
colouring outside the lines of Johnston’s skeletal chords.
Meanwhile, the latter decided to dull down his
speaker-bludgeoning post-punk tendencies in favour of more
nuanced, dynamic material.
Hollow marks the return for Cut Off Your Hands after a two-year break followed extensive touring across the UK, USA and Australia, including appearances at the Australian St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in 2009 and the festival’s New Zealand debut in 2010.
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