REVUE Explain About Their Album 'Why Can't You Stay' In Our Compelling Interview

Your nine-track album 'Why Can't You Stay' is out now. How proud are you of the album and how does it feel to have new music out into the world?

Honestly pretty flipping proud – it was a real labour of love. We wrote it during a difficult period in our lives so Emma's lyrics are really personal and we worked hard for so long; because it's an independent release we did a ton of things ourselves, Marty (guitar/production) mixed the album in our home studio. And if feels great to have it out – the nerves dissipated once it was released.

Did anything in particular of any other artists help inspire the songs on the album?

Tons of stuff! As i talways does. Generally, we really love the way a lot of older or classic folk/rock music like Paul Simon or The Band would sometimes be really sparse and atmospheric (like on 'Gather' or 'Beautiful End'), but often would have these lush layers of live instrumentation– a lot of the songs build from folksy to these huge organ-drenched peaks with a horn section going; and we love vocal harmonies.
As a more specific example, 'Raise A Glass' was a sort of mash-up of the attitude/sentiment of The Cardigans 'I Need Some Fine Wine' (and you need to be nicer!) and the way Radiohead incorporated a bit of New Orleans jazz into 'Life In A Glasshouse' without losing their sound; that one's like a cabaret diva fuck-you.

If you had to pick a song from the album that you are most particularly proud of which one would it be?

Cross The Sea – it's the emotional heart of the album, and talks about the loss of Emma's brother Mark(who took the photograph we used for the album cover). Emma felt she captured the feeling she was trying to convey; the loss, the grief, the strange circumstances of a close family member dying in a different country during a global pandemic where travel and visiting was restricted. And musically we felt we managed to support the story and the emotion of it – there's a melancholy guitar riff that really mirrors the lyric, and the whole arrangement ebbs and flows along with the feeling in the singing, restrains itself until almost the end of the song where we all let loose where Emma breaks out into a kind of wordless keening vocal.

Is there an overall theme running through your writing?

I think it's been pretty well documented in the press we've done to date that the theme running through the writing is loss, but we're really keen to get across that the overall vibe of the album is uplifting, and that's what people who are listening are saying. Aside from that, it's about love and joy and connection and how those things help you grow and overcome.

What can new listeners of REVUE expect from listening to your music?

Indie folk/folk-rock with heartfelt emotional melodies, dynamic arrangements, layered backing vocals, classic song writing, memorable riffs you'll find yourself humming along with.

What is next for you guys in 2024?

We have dates organised for a planned tour of Ireland, going back to tour France and play festivals in England (as we have for the last couple of summers), writing the next record! 'Why Can't You Stay' was the first one we've done with a full band, so we're looking forward to evolving that.