EX-VÖID RETURN WITH NEW ALBUM, LEAD SINGLE STREAMING NOW

SINGLE REVIEW | Ex-Vöid – Swansea 5/5

“Swansea”, the first single from Ex-Vöid’s sophomore LP, In Love Again, is streaming now from Tapete Records.

London-based power-pop band Ex-Vöid is fronted by Lan McArdle (Joanna Gruesome, Lanny) and Owen Williams (Joanna Gruesome, The Tubs), both on guitar, lead vocals, and song writing. They’re joined by Laurie Foster on bass and George Rothman on drums, and the quartet have been playing together for years, having released their debut album, Bigger Than Before in 2022, to much acclaim. McArdle and Williams have been busy since Bigger Than Before, with both of them contributing to Gob Nation’s first literary magazine, Perfect Angel, and Williams fronting rock band The Tubs. Ex-Vöid have popped up for live shows here and there, and always playing unreleased songs, so hearing that a new album release is on the way is incredibly welcoming news.

I’ve been hearing “Swansea” at those Ex-Vöid shows for what feels like years. Mentally I’ve always called it “Back in England,” and it’s always stood out as a maturation in the band’s sound. While Ex-Vöid has always sounded confident, their harmony-and-hooks throwback take on power-punk seemingly blowing out of speakers without a care for what you think, “Swansea”, live, displayed a newfound kind of tenderness and thoughtfulness – it floats, rather than struts.

On record, “Swansea” also marks a clear departure in two key areas: punk and production. Where Bigger Than Before still had both feet firmly in the lead duo’s punk- and noise-pop past, “Swansea” is slower, more deliberate, and fully in on the power-pop side of their efforts. The guitars still scream solos, and the rhythm section is tight and propulsive, but it’s all a bit more jangly-acoustic than noise-driven distortion. This new sound finds the quartet more welcoming and warm than previous studio efforts. Even the song length is more pop than punk- at 3 minutes and 29 seconds, the new single is still short enough to be an Ex-Vöid song, but only just – it is their second longest song yet. (Bigger Than Before fits 10 songs into a brisk 24 minutes.)

The production has been ramped up, too. Bigger Than Before sounded firmly DIY – and was all the more endearing for it – but “Swansea” is crisp, clear, and layered. The guitars ring, with enough space to breathe. The rhythm section plows along, seeming relishing in the larger soundscape. And perhaps the most important of all, Williams and McArdle’s lead harmonies finally match the power of their live mix. It’s no secret that Ex-Vöid’s co-lead singers are the band’s killer weapon, and where previous releases hinted at the beauty of their signature high and low melody meld, here it truly shines through. There’s nothing in Ex-Vöid’s recording history that matches the third chorus of “Swansea”, where the two leads are backed up by just the rhythm of acoustic guitar.

I’ve been struck by the lyrics to “Swansea” ever since I first heard it live: “We both know / We both know / If you loved me, you would still be back in England / On your own / On your own.” In the sweaty, crowded back rooms where I’ve been experiencing this song, the chorus is sometimes all you can make out. Now that the single’s been released, it’s clear that this is not a love song but rather an unrequited one. “It’s always the same old story / It’s like you do it just to bore me.” Williams explains that the song is “about someone obsessed with you and following you to Wales, and, despite the sexual threat they pose, finding yourself pitying, rather than fearing your stalker.”

Ex-Vöid, and Williams, are no strangers to love songs that aren’t love songs – just listen to “Boyfriend” or “So Neurotic” from their debut, or to “Sniveller” from The Tubs (Sniveller also features Lan McArdle on backup vocals), but Ex-Vöid say that their new record has songwriters McArdle and Williams taking “a more autobiographical, nuanced approach to lyric writing.” This is helped in part that both of them went through breakups during the writing process. “Obviously a super catastrophic breakup is useful to have,” McArdle says, “It means I can still be self-deprecating and not super sincere. But also be like: I’m in pain.” In Love Again is also stated to expand the Ex-Vöid sound, taking in elements of Shoegaze, country, 90’s indie rock, and, apparently, “the entire history of guitar music.” In Love Again comes in just a few months, so we don’t have long to wait to find out.