Boston Manor Release Video For New Song "Bad Machine"; Sophomore Record "Welcome To The Neighbourhood" Out On September 7th

Boston Manor have released their latest video for “Bad Machine,” a track off of their highly anticipated second album Welcome To The Neighbourhood. Heavy with dynamic guitars and powerful vocals, this high energy song serves as a sneak peek into the band’s upcoming album. Set in black and white, the accompanying video for “Bad Machine” illustrates the dark and ominous themes that exist throughout Welcome To The Neighbourhood. The unique 360-degree video format provides an interactive element that leaves interpretation up to the listener.

The clip was directed and edited by the band’s very own Henry Cox, with Tom Hancox in the role of DOP, and is a very “film noir” look at the their hometown of Blackpool. “When we composed the song we already had accompanying visuals in mind for it and when recording the album we had films playing in the background that we thought would match up with the sounds we were making,” says Henry. “We knew we wanted to capture some of the sleaziness of the track & condense the video down to a sequence of ‘moments’, almost like a movie trailer. The song has such massive differences in dynamics between the verses & choruses so it was important that we captured that in the video.”

The second studio album from Boston Manor, Welcome To The Neighbourhood, elevates the band from their 2016 album Be Nothing both lyrically and sonically. “I think the time between the last record and this one, we kind of thought we knew who we were,” explains vocalist Henry Cox, “but we’ve realized that even now we’re still figuring that out. Before, we were scared to try stuff, whereas on this record there were no limits. We wanted to push ourselves, instead of being terrified to dip just one little toe in the wrong direction.”

Check out the band’s second studio album Welcome To The Neighbourhood, available September 7th via Pure Noise Records.

The world that Welcome To The Neighbourhood inhabits is an unapologetically bleak one, a world rife with poverty and drug addiction, boarded up shops and a population unable to escape a predicament they didn’t even know they were in. “My generation financially and culturally barren,” Cox says. “We can’t afford to buy a house, we’re very much paying the price for our parents’ generation’s mistakes, but at the same time too fucking lazy and distracted and comfortable to do anything about it.”

While Cox is also keen to point out that this album is neither politically-motivated nor one taking arms against his parents’ generation – “If anything,” he chuckles, “it’s more of a stab at my generation” – the 12 songs on the album have nevertheless been shaped by the tumultuous state of the world and Cox’s own worries for both its future and the future of his generation. By using the band’s hometown of Blackpool – which is also where, as usual, they wrote all these songs – the band grounds those fears into a physical, tangible location, which also serves as a metaphor for the larger themes and issues that inspired and which dominate these songs. “In the ’50s, ’60s and’70s,” explains Cox, “Blackpool was this booming town. It was a holiday destination, a place where you can go to forget all your troubles and now things here are just so fucked up – there are huge drug problems and a 40 percent unemployment rate in the winter. It was once this beautiful thing and it’s become a little bit broken.”

Welcome To The Neighbourhood is just as emotionally charged and meaningful as ever. With that comes a hope that this album, by addressing the issues it does, can have a positive impact on the future. “I’m just trying to draw attention to a few issues,” he says.“The things that are important to my generation are just so trivial in my eyes, but who am I to say? I can’t really offer any immediate solutions, but I can try to throw a bucket of cold water on some of my peers, to just get them to feel more and think more and not be so apathetic.”

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD TRACK LISTING

01. Welcome to The Neighbourhood

02. Flowers In Your Dustbin

03. Halo

04. England's Dreaming

05. Funeral Party

06. Digital Ghost

07. Tunnel Vision

08. Bad Machine

09. If I Can't Have It No One Can

10. Hate You

11. FY1

12. Stick Up

13. The Day That I Ruined Your Life