With over a decade of evolution underneath their belt, Bristol-born indie-electronic outfit The Ramona Flowers have carved out a sound that blurs the strains between stadium-sized anthems and late-night synth pop.
Recognized for his or her emotive hooks, slick manufacturing, and cinematic power, the band return in the present day (October tenth) with their fourth studio album, ‘Made By People’ — a file that feels each deeply private, and sonically expansive.
Mixing disco, funk and indie flavours with uncooked lyricism, 13-track assortment captures the contradictions of contemporary life — connection and isolation, know-how and intimacy, humanity and machine. It’s a title that speaks volumes: a reminder that behind each digital beat and polished melody lies actual emotion, actual tales, and, in fact, actual folks.
We sat down with band members Steve, Sam, Dave and Ed to speak concerning the artistic course of behind ‘Made By People’, how their sound has matured since their debut, and what it means to remain human in an more and more digital world.
Lads, ‘Made by People’ is lastly ours! Regardless of this being your fourth studio album, is it nonetheless nerve wracking releasing new music?
Sam: It may be, however perhaps not that nerve-wracking as a result of to be sincere, I hold forgetting it’s popping out! However it’s thrilling, actually thrilling. We’ve been working exhausting on this album for a very long time now, so I’m simply glad that it’s lastly being launched.
Steve: Yeah, it’s a pleasant feeling understanding that it’s out and everybody can hear it. I really feel like we’ve created an actual physique of labor this time round, so I’m excited to see what folks consider the brand new materials.
What does the LPs’ title signify, and the way does it tie into the themes of the album?
Steve: The title displays the truth that lyrically the songs on this album contact on real-life topics, that every one folks undergo, and that solely people can expertise. In a world of AI, it felt like the right title.
Sam: It emphasises the truth that we’re the true deal. We’re a band that’s been round. We’ve accomplished every thing. We’ve toured, we’ve performed each shit-hole, and we’ve realized the best way to get good. We wished this album to showcase that we’re an actual band, writing actual songs, enjoying actual devices, and being the true deal, and solely people can do this.
Had been there any explicit feelings, tales, or real-world occasions you felt compelled to jot down about?
Steve: I feel we simply wished to do what we’ve all the time accomplished, and that’s write music that displays our personal private experiences, in addition to how we view the world in it’s present state. From my viewpoint, I went by a number of issues in the course of the making of this album — I had some dependancy points, and I had a toddler, so I positively wished to ensure I addressed these issues in a few the songs.
Which tracks really feel most private to you?
Steve: I might say ‘Sings of the Father’ and ‘Luna’ as a result of that’s about my daughter.
Sam: For me it’s gotta be ‘That Summer season’ as a result of a few of the lyrics have been impressed by my relationship.
Dave: I like all the songs on the album. It’s like when you will have youngsters, you’ll be able to’t decide your favorite one.
Ed: If I needed to decide one, then it might be ‘Mirrors In The Mansion’. It’s exhausting to decide on a favorite or a music that feels essentially the most private, as a result of all of them contact you in numerous methods. Steve was actually fairly open and weak on this album, and after being his mate for thus lengthy, I class him as mainly a brother, so I’m moved by every thing he writes and creates.
The Ramona Flowers — Mirrors In The Mansion (Lyric Video)
Are there any tracks you’re particularly excited to play dwell, and the way do you handle translating them to the stage with out issue?
Dave: Issue being the operative phrase (laughs).
Steve: Yeah, it’s exhausting for me to reply as I’ve nothing to do with placing our dwell reveals collectively (laughs).
Ed: It’s tough, I’m not going to faux it isn’t. Fortunately, we work with some actually nice individuals who assist us to make all of it occur.
Sam: Once we’re writing a music, we don’t essentially take into consideration how we’re going to carry it to life in a dwell setting. We simply write and produce our music to one of the best of our means, and it’s solely afterwards you suppose: “shit, how are we going to do that dwell?”
Ed: We’ve all written individually and introduced our personal concepts to the desk on this album. We’ve by no means actually accomplished that earlier than. So on the subject of performing dwell, I suppose we’ll every simply put our personal stamp on the songs and see the way it sounds.
Sam: Ed wrote the guitar solo on ‘Mirrors In The Mansion’, and it sounds epic. However as a drummer it’s actually tough to maintain up with. So I do know once we play it like I’m going to be considering: “Am I going to get this proper tonight?”
Ed: There’s a second on one of many tracks Sam wrote referred to as ‘Sins of The Father’ — it has this rhythm to it that’s superb, however it’s exhausting to groove with in case you’re a drummer or base participant, so they have an inclination to hate it (laughs). One in every of our mates performed bass on it once we recorded it, and he almost had a breakdown making an attempt to grasp it! He needed to take a minute afterwards, and go discover somebody to have a dialog with!
Sam: After we’d recorded it, I bear in mind the producer tried to straighten it out and I used to be like “what have you ever accomplished?” And he advised me he’d made some adjustments as a result of it sounded bizarre, however I used to be like “no that’s the entire level, it IS bizarre!” So we modified it again. Nonetheless, the issue we now have is, everybody struggles to play it dwell (laughs).
As a collective, do you know the sort of file you wished to make this time round?
Steve: Not in t he starting, no. I feel we have been glad to only experiment and see what we got here up with. Then we wrote a music referred to as ‘Up All Night time’, and that sort of grew to become a cornerstone of the album. I’d say all the fabric we wrote after that got here from the sensation we acquired from that one explicit monitor.
Sam: I feel we knew although that we wished this album to be a bit extra upbeat didn’t we? We wished the songs to be a bit extra danceable, and enjoyable.
How would you say your songwriting course of has developed since your earlier albums?
Ed: Properly, I’d say my course of has completely developed as a result of I truly write songs now (laughs).
Sam: You have been all the time concerned in although — particularly when it got here to arranging the rhythm and drum sections. However yeah, it’s good now as a result of everybody writes extra so it spreads the load a bit of.
Ed: I suppose everybody’s grow to be extra assured in what they do. And since we’ve recognized one another for thus lengthy, we’re extra snug having these tough conversations that we generally must have. We’ve acquired a significantly better bullshit filter now that’s for positive!
Steve: Yeah, if one thing’s not adequate, we simply say it… as tactfully as potential, we don’t wish to purposefully harm anybody. Previously I feel we let sure issues drift on for longer than they need to as a result of we weren’t being as sincere with one another as we at the moment are.
Your sound usually blends cinematic, digital and indie rock components. Did you push these boundaries in any new methods on this file?
Ed: We by no means got down to do something like that. We simply write music we wish to make.
Sam: We began out an indie band, after which transitioned into experimenting with extra digital sounds. Now we’ve sort of come out of that and have gone again to being an actual band. However all that shifts as we develop and evolve.
Had been there any sudden sounds or devices you experimented with for the primary time?
Ed: Our producer introduced alongside a few outdated synths sooner or later, which all of us fairly loved experimenting with.
Sam: You’ll usually discover that anytime you’re in a studio, you’ll discover one thing and suppose: “let’s mess around with that and see what we are able to give you”, and yeah, it’s normally a synth (laughs).
Dave: It’s humorous how totally different sounds and concepts can seemingly seem out of nowhere. Sam was placing his guitar down throughout a session, and the producer recorded the sound of it as a result of it created this distinctive rhythm. When he performed it again to us we have been like “what’s that noise, it sounds superb?” We truly ended up sampling it on one of many tracks.
Sam: After which there’s a door slamming pattern (laughs) We discovered that the keys echoed each time the door slammed, and it sounds epic. So we recorded it and used as one of many downbeats.
How do you see ‘Made By People’ setting the stage to your future sound and tasks?
Ed: I feel as a result of it’s taken such a very long time to jot down this album and put it collectively, a few of the songs on there are two, perhaps three years outdated, and a few have been written within the final six months, in order a accomplished file it’s an actual reflection of who we have been, and who we at the moment are. I’m excited to see how we evolve on the subsequent one to be sincere.
Sam: I really feel like we’ve created a extremely robust basis that we are able to construct upon. We’ve positively discovered our sound as Ramona Flowers now, and this album solidifies that.
How do you hope listeners will join with the brand new materials?
Steve: We clearly need everybody to find it irresistible and luxuriate in it. But in addition, I would like folks to know the lyrics, and listen to the tales we’re telling in a method that they’ll relate to them to what they’ve happening in their very own lives.
Sam: I would like folks to hearken to the album as an entire, from begin to end. It worries me that individuals don’t appear to purchase albums anymore, so that they by no means fairly really feel the affect of a full physique of labor. I feel that’s a disgrace. There are some lovely songs on this album, notably those nearer the top, so I actually hope folks take the time to hearken to the entire file and never simply the singles.
Obtain / stream ‘Made By People’ right here
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