MARK SHARP & THE BICYCLE THIEVES UNLEASH DEBUT ALBUM

Flying the saltire for Northern Exposure this week is the debut album from Scotland’s renowned indie pop band Mark Sharp & The Bicycle Thieves. The West Lothian five piece are Mark ‘Sharpy’ Sharp (Vocals/Guitar), Connor Ward (bass), Cameron ‘Cammy’ McKay (guitar), Darren Moran (keys/trumpet) and James Grant (drums).

Best known for their sprightly energetic live shows, the unsigned quintet unleash Unmask the Circus exclusively on Assai Records this week. The band, who recently supported pal and fellow Scottish talent, Lewis Capaldi on his last European tour, have been churning the tunes out for over half a decade already. Their biggest chart success came in 2021 when Sink or Swim topped the iTunes Rock Chart and rolled in at number 20 on the official UK singles Chart. With over half of the limited vinyl run from Assai records already sold before the album’s release on Friday 25th August, can Mark Sharp and the Bicycle Thieves break the official UK album charts?

On the eve of the albums debut we caught up again with the main man Mark Sharp himself to discuss the album in more depth.

UNMASK THE CIRCUS

So, what does the title Unmask the Circus mean and how did you come up with that title for the album?

It was actually my birthday in 2020 and was something I had put into my phone notes. Still the height of the pandemic and it was like we were all living in the circus. Like the whole world were living behind an actual mask. I feel most people live their lives hiding behind a mask, and if you get a bit deeper into it then it’s like there’s people in charge of their lives rather than themselves. The title works on so many levels depending on how you look at it. It definitely resonates with me.

No time is wasted in bringing the listener into their theatrical extravaganza. The album begins with a show stopping fanfare instrumental 110BC which naturally leads into the albums official first track, Green. Utterly captivating, Green is a discordant beauty which echoes a dystopian circus. The unsettling ambience is heightened as the spoken word backdrop of renowned American poet Charles Bukowski is brought in.

I’ve kinda been obsessed with him for a few years now. He’s brutally honest. When we were working on Green I was looking for inspiration and I found his poem Dinosauria We which resonated with me. I think that song is relatable to anybody anytime, but at that specific time when the world was up in flames and in the mist of a mad crisis and it just made it so much easier to write about.
Mark Sharp

A powerful track but as Mark assures us, it shouldn’t be mistaken as political album and Unmask The Circus certainly has more moments of joy than doom.

LAST DANCE

Since the turn of the year, Mark Sharp & The Bicycle Thieves have dropped five brand new singles which feature on the debut album. The first of these came in January when Last Dance became the bands first new release in over a year. Met with incredible enthusiasm from fans, the band would go on to release, Superman, Northern Soul, Big Star and finally Stubborn just days before the album release date.

Every single one of them chart worthy and the tracks individually showcase the bands musical diversity. Superman captures their most commercially pop side whilst Northern Soul, as the title suggests, is the upbeat dancefloor number absolutely loaded feelgood northern soul character. Big Star is perhaps one of the most interesting compositions on the album, the electro dance inspiration is heavy and plays into the albums overall theatrical aesthetic.

Stubborn is the biggest ballad on the album and really showcases Marks uniquely soulful vocals. So much emotion is conveyed within his tone that its hard not to be intensively drawn into the music. With the diversification of musical styles that Mark Sharp and The Bicycle Thieves present, it’s all neatly brought together because of the strong vocal performance that never really lets down.

WHAT I WANT

Knowing they would always record an album at some point, the band would wait until the other side of the pandemic to take to the recording studio. Recorded in Summer 2022, Mark Sharp and The Bicycle Thieves would ultimately self fund and record without the backing of any label.

You don’t need to wait for a label to come along and pay for an album. A lot of bands do that and that’s fair enough but we saved for a long time, we done a lot of gigs and just thought lets just do it ourselves and put it all out on our own.
Mark Sharp

They would be supported on the physical distribution by Independent Scottish Record Store and Label Assai Records with an extremely limited run of 1000 Obi edition colour vinyl’s. At the time of speaking with Mark on the eve of the album release, they had sold out over 50% of the physical vinyl copies on pre order only.

SINK OR SWIM

With an impressive back catalogue of singles to their name, the band would bring three of these to the final album track listing. So how did they narrow it down?

It was difficult. We released an EP in 2019 and Tippy Toes was on that so we didn’t know if we should bring that to the album. The other two Sink or Swim and Today.Tomorrow.Forever came out around the same time and were never part of an EP or anything so felt they deserved a place on the album. But with Tippy Toes, that was the song we did when we had The Bicycle Thieves (EP). I think it just deserved a place. It’s our most streamed song and we thought there’s going to be new people listening to the album. It’s difficult because we can take everything but I do feel there is a couple of good replacements for those on the album.
Mark Sharp

Keeping it fresh whilst bringing some of that nostalgia along is something which should appeal to new and dedicated fans alike. However, the previous singles do somewhat interrupt the natural flow to the album as carry a slightly different approach compared to the newer tracks. But perhaps that’s a personal reflection on my listening experience already being familiar with the songs and not necessarily a criticism of the album flow.

BLACK TIES & LITTLE LIES

So Mark, what’s your favourite song on the album ?

Oh, now that’s a good question. It changes every time I listen. I think Black Ties & Little Lies is probably my favourite at the moment. It’s got such a massive ending and builds so well. We bookend it (with opening track Green) with the Charles Bukowski poem coming back in at the end. Green and Black Ties give off the same kinda message. It’s not a political album but the first and last song give a strong message across.

Unmask The Circus is an absolutely incredible debut album from a humble group of working guys. An album which rips up the rule book and highlights that you can confidently experiment with your sound whilst maintaining an authentic identity. Full of emotion, passion and relatability, Mark Sharp & The Bicycle Thieves are ready to embark on their most ambitious era yet.