Birmingham dream-pop four-piece and indies stalwarts new EP:‘IF IT WASN’T FOR MY FRIENDS, THINGS COULD BE DIFFERENT’ is out on 15 September, coinciding with their 2023 UK tour. They’ve also released the EP’s lead track ‘Are My Friends Alright?’
Marking the break of a new dawn for the foursome, “Are My Friends Alright?” sees JAWS fuse fresh, feel-good guitar melodies with fuzzier moments of introspection that grapple with the gratitude and guilt that comes along with close-knit friendships.
Vocalist Connor Schofield explains: “I think I wrote this song just before Christmas. In the second half of last year I came out of a long-term relationship and this was kind of a response to everyone that looked out for me during that time, as well as me realising that I had to be there for my friends more than I had been. It’s just a general reminder that we’d all be f***ed without our friends, so we need to check in on them.”
Embracing evolution with a fervour, the new track takes a slightly more DIY approach than the band are used to. Cultivating a blissed-out blend of dazey dream-pop edged with a luminous twist that feels both as familiar as an old friend, yet refreshingly new, Schofield adds: “The whole process of making this single and the EP has been totally different to anything we’ve done before in that itself-produced. I’m lucky enough to have a room at 123 Studios in Peckham, which led to producer Brett Shaw helping us out to get a great drum sound before I finished the record off in my own space. It was a challenge, but we’re super proud of what we’ve been able to create.”
JAWS UK TOUR 2023
SEPTEMBER
25 NEWCASTLE The Cluny
26 GLASGOW King Tuts
27 MANCHESTER Club
29 LONDON The Garage
30 BIRMINGHAM The Crossing
OCTOBER
02 LEEDS Brudenell Social Club
03 BRISTOL Thekla
JAWS first formed in Birmingham in 2012, after vocalist Connor rallied together a handful of his friends from college and gained traction with a demo he’d posted online. Having since released two EPs and three albums including their 2014 debut ‘Be Slowly’ and 2016’s ‘Simplicity’, the band’s forthcoming EP will be their first extended offering since self-released LP ‘The Ceiling’ in 2019.
Praised by The Guardian for creating “a rising tumult of lovely lacerating melodies and noise over a rock beat you can dance to”, the band have attracted praise from the likes of NME, DIY, Gigwise, Dork, The Line of Best Fit , Far Out Magazine, The Independent, Clash and more.
Check out what Leeds Living was saying about Jaws in 2019 here.
