2 days ago
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The announcement follows the release of previous singles "PLAINTIVE NATIVE", "DRAGGED UP A HILL (and thrown down the other side)", and "SLUGLIFE".
Discussing "ONLY FREE WHEN SLEEPING", the duo comprised of vocalist Joe Hicklin and drummer Callum Moloney explain: “This is a head-down walking song. When all that shows up in observation is negative, when all news is bad news and you just look at your feet and curse the cruelty and the faff of the modern day and all the days before that lead to this feeling.
"When you just wanna go to bed and let your dreams make up a different story for you to smile at, just for a little bit, until you wake again. Head down, stomp through another day.”
The pair describe O'JOY as a companion piece to their previous work, including their 2024 debut POSTINDUSTRIAL HOMETOWN BLUES, and their second album, NATIONAL AVERAGE., released last year.
Speaking about the new collection of songs, which is dedicated to the memory of their close friend Handsome James Borrer, BIG SPECIAL say: "This new record is made of all the fallen parts of our first two albums.We picked them up and took them back to the studio to rework and play with them to make them into their own piece of work that reflects upon what we have done so far.
"The songs that didn’t fit in the right place at the right time. Including songs that, at the time, might’ve made the albums too long and lean too far into a darker tone, where we wanted to keep the balance of an emotional journey, like watching a movie with your eyes closed. So we made O’JOY!"
O'JOY artwork
O'JOY tracklist
"PLAINTIVE NATIVE"
"ONLY FREE WHEN SLEEPING"
"LAZARUS"
"THE WAKE"
"FAMILY BONES"
"GARDEN OF FOOLS"
"SLUGLIFE"
"DRAGGED UP A HILL (and thrown down the other side)"
"HOTEL"
English (US) · 