Autobahn new single and album due 3 November 2017
Album release: 'The Moral crossing' by Autobahn
Release date: 3 November 2017
Label: Tough Love Records
More info: Band website
Leeds post-punk quintet AUTOBAHN today share their excellent new single 'Future', a standout from their upcoming second album 'The Moral Crossing'. Frontman Craig Johnson says of their latest cut:
"The song is about looking forward and supporting one another through darker times. It’s an attempt to be positive.
This is probably the closest we’ve got to a pop song, there’s definitely influence from the likes of Human League and Gary Numan in there. I remember trying to work out how to structure this type of song, so we leaned on the Wham! classic Club Tropicana for a leg up." Listen to 'Future' on Soundcloud or Youtube.
The album will be released by Tough Love Records on a selection of physical formats – including CD, a red vinyl pressing for indie stores, 100 red vinyl pressing with a poster available exclusively through Bandcamp / Tough Love Records and, finally, a 100 grey vinyl pressing only available for their hometown through Leeds record stores. Listen to 'The Moral Crossing' here. Pre-order here.
Following considerable attention around their debut album from the likes of The Guardian, Uncut, NME, Louder Than War and more, Autobahn’s second has seen lead singer and principal songwriter Craig Johnson, guitarists Michael Pedel and Gavin Cobb, bassist Daniel Sleight and drummer Liam Hilton deciding to giving up their practice room that doubled as a hardcore/punk venue (which influenced their original sound, as did a love of The Birthday Party) and build their own studio space – on their own terms, all on their own.
"The first album hinted at emotion and feeling, but this record encapsulates that from the offset. The melancholic aspect of our music is often offset by an aggressive dissonance, but to me there's also a romantic side to what we do, which isn't always clear because of the 100mph drive of the band. That's what we are exploring with this new album." - Craig Johnson
They found a former double-glazing firm, under a disused bridge, in Holbeck (Leeds’ red light district), and despite having no experience of such a job, they undertook this feat. It took a year from ripping out the existing contents to finishing the album – which was then mixed in New York by Ben Greenberg, known for his work with the Sacred Bones label.
On top, Johnson taught himself how to make a record after the studio was built. “I was down there nearly every night,” Johnson recalls. “It was pretty horrible at times, but worth the pain to have control over everything. We’ve had the chance to create the sound we want, at times it’s more melancholic, and romantic.”
Autobahn will follow the release of their album with a full UK tour.
Press reaction to date
"A Leeds band in love with the postpunk sound of, well, Leeds at its most northern and industrial, gothic and gloomy" - The Guardian
"A fug of doom-loaded post punk that evokes the faded memory of post-industrial landscapes and the oppressive loneliness of youth, thus placing Autobahn on a similar plane to fellow Leeds-based contemporaries, Eagulls and Hookworms."- The Quietus
"Crossing The Horrors’ baritone gloom with the timeless post-punk feel of Joy Division at their angriest"- NME
"Autobahn have nailed the atmosphere and the slither-y darkness that permeated Joy Division or Tubeway Army releases, showing all of these half-assed post-punks exactly what for."- Noisey
10/10 - Louder Than War