Cardiff indie rock/psych/synthwave band Red Telephone have detailed their second album, Delay The New Day, and have also shared their new single/video “Sentimental Dreaming.”
The 10-track record will be out via Cooking Vinyl on January31, 2025. Pre-order your copy here.
Driven by a hypnotic bassline and layered with ethereal synths, ‘Sentimental Dreaming’ comes with an interesting backstory. Born from a 15 minute acoustic guitar session intended to fix the chorus of a different song, the track became one of the first the band worked on for their new album. However, its journey to completion was far from straightforward, going through multiple iterations, including a bold foray into Robyn-inspired pop, before finding its final form in a spontaneous late-night studio session.
Lead singer Declan says of the song’s construction:
“We started listening back to practice recordings of all the different versions we’d attempted and there was this one phone recording with this really rhythmic, catchy bassline by Dom. We were basically recording it ten minutes later on the fly and didn’t leave the studio until about 2am. There was definitely some late-in-the-day chaos as we scrambled to get it over the line, but it added a different energy & even brought about one of Kieran’s favourite guitar parts on the album, which he put down off the cuff going into the outro almost in some jaded desperation to get it done.”
With nods to Suede and Talking Heads, and a bridge that channels Roy Orbison, ‘Sentimental Dreaming’ emerges as a serendipitous anthem for the band, capturing their eclectic influences and innovative approach to songcraft.
Delving into the album’s central theme of the trials and tribulations of modern day artists, ‘Sentimental Dreaming’ lyrically explores the chasm between the romanticised visions of creative pursuits and the often harsh realities of chasing those dreams. Of the song’s lyrics Declan says:
“There’s obviously this idealistic sentimentality in dreaming – it almost sounds like a sweet, harmless thing to do – but it’s deceptively powerful, because it can send us down paths that end up dictating not only behaviour but entire periods of our lives and ways of living.”
Following the success of their debut Hollowing Out, this new record sees their ever evolving sound push boundaries even further. Building on their signature blend of melodic psych and darkwave, Red Telephone promise to further explore this fusion with the addition of cinematic influences to their sophomore effort.
Thematically, the album delves into the struggles faced by countless aspiring artists: the relentless juggling act of day jobs and creative pursuits, as well as the bombardment of conflicting advice on achieving success, and the ever-present fear of losing sight of the initial spark that ignited the passion. Delay The New Day is a tapestry of paranoia, self-doubt, and the sheer determination it takes to carve a path in the music industry. But even deeper than that, it’s about refusing to compromise on artistic vision, and embodying the underdog’s mentality to keep creating for the right reasons.
Check out “Sentimental Dreaming” below, followed by the album’s artwork and tracklist.
Delay the New Day Tracklist:
- Who Am I Impressing?
- Faithful
- Play the Part
- What to Believe
- Let’s Talk
- We Broke It Again
- Sentimental Dreaming
- Willing to Wait
- Leave Me Be
- Delay the New Day
Upcoming Live Shows:
29th Jan – Cardiff, Tiny Rebel (Exclusive album listening party)
1st Feb – Cardiff, HMV Instore
5th Feb – Salt Box, Nottingham
6th Feb – Bristol, Exchange Basement
8th Feb – Carmarthen, CWRW
22nd Feb – Aberystwyth, Trawsnewid Festival
8th March – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
Photo Credit: Matthew Bedford
Red Telephone “Sentimental Dreaming”
