Tigercub made a welcome return to our airwaves earlier this month with a bolt from the blue in the massive “Beauty”, their first new material since 2017. Today the band follow that with the news of a much-anticipated second album, “As Blue As Indigo”, set for release on June 18th through Blame Recordings. 

The record was written and produced by the band’s own Jamie Stephen Hall, engineered and co-produced by Adrian Bushby (Foo Fighters, Muse) and subsequently mixed by Tom Dalgety (Pixies, Ghost, Royal Blood). Written over two years, “As Blue As Indigo” champions introspection drawing on the subjectivity of colour.

Available on LP, CD and digital formats, you can pre-order the record HERE

Tigercub have also shared their second single and first video from the album, the expansive and kaleidoscopic “Stop Beating On My Heart (Like A Bass Drum)”, another masterclass in quiet-loud dynamics and an undeniable earworm.

LISTEN/WATCH “STOP BEATING ON MY HEART (LIKE A BASS DRUM)” HERE

Jamie had the following to say about the themes behind the song:

“There are people in life that seem to bring a cloud of toxicity and conflict along with them wherever they go. When they come into my world it’s like storm clouds have formed over my head and, there is only a matter of time before the first rain drop falls and the storm erupts… The storm opens up old wounds, I’m left rudderless and disorientated from it and as I start to pick myself back up I know it’s only a matter of time before it happens again. In ‘Like A Bass Drum’ I am begging for it to end, stop beating on my heart like a bass drum.”

Jamie, who stands 7 foot tall and is the band’s sole songwriter, claims the creative fire for “As Blue As Indigo” was sparked by colour theory and the notion that what each human eye sees as colour could be totally subjective. That idea led him to explore his own personal issues through a similar prism, exploring topics including anxiety, depression, toxic masculinity, the death of his grandmother and the recent suicide of a close friend; and in turn began spinning the lyrical thread that ties the entire record together. Putting himself under the microscope was to become key:

“I never really felt in the past that I could talk about really personal things. I’d always used a mask. It’s quite easy to do that because you’re not exposing yourself in anyway. I’d always subconsciously tried to shy away from talking about myself,” he notes. “I didn’t want to do that anymore. I wanted this to be about me and process my emotions for the first time. I think that’s made us more genuine and authentic as a band”

 “As Blue As Indigo” is as colourful a journey as the vivid title suggests, its ten tracks span the progressive to the immediate, the gentle to the monolithic, and most of all fulfill the significant potential the band have always promised. “As Blue As Indigo” is an album that looks set to cement their place at the top table of British rock acts in 2021.

Tigercub
As Blue As Indigo
Out June 18th via Blame Recordings
Pre-order HERE

1. As Blue As Indigo
2. Sleepwalker
3. Blue Mist In My Head
4. Stop Beating On My Heart (Like A Bass Drum)
5. Funeral
6. Built To Fail
7. Shame
8. As Long You’re Next To Me
9. Beauty
10. In The Autumn Of My Years

More information on Tigercub:

Back in 2018 the Brighton-based three piece were on the crest of a wave. As well as regular plays on daytime Radio 1 and a Rockest Record from the Radio 1 Rock Show, years of near non-stop touring had seen them sell out The Scala and play a triumphant hometown show at The Concorde 2. On their last EP, Evolve Or Die, they’d pushed the live-wired sound of their 2016 debut, Abstract Figures In The Dark, massively broadening their sonic palette and delivering Tigercub’s pile-driving guitar gut-punch within an intense digital static.

It seemed like a good place to put things on pause for a bit and in the downtime the band’s lead songwriter and frontman Jamie Hall started tinkering with his own brand of gonzoid psych-pop under the name Nancy. Intended only as a DIY experiment, the project massively took off. Nancy was Hype Machine’s most blogged artist, Hall bagged two record deals and played a string of dates around the world. Not bad for something he’d done in his bedroom chiefly to keep his songwriting chops up. Enough to keep you busy you’d think, but Hall was itching to get back to the day job, determined to use all he’d learned from the solo project to further Tigercub on their return. And what a return it is.