Get Excited About... What We Know: all the goss on Two Door Cinema Club’s new album

Info’s scarce on the group’s comeback, but with gigs under their belt, a return is imminent.

Words: Kyle MacNeill
13th April 2016

It’s a bit scary to think it’s been over six years since Two Door Cinema Club’s ‘Tourist History’ was released. Six whole years since they cast more hooks into the sonisphere than in the pages of Total Carp, reeling our ears into a net of indie-pop goodness. Yet, since follow-up ‘Beacon’ and 2013’s ‘Changing of the Seasons’ EP, they’ve not thrown a single thing into the mix.

Instead, they only went and did a Jamie T and disappeared on us. Well, sort of. Between halfway through 2014 and October 2015, not a word was uttered on social media. For months, the ghost of TDCC could only be seen haunting rubbish car adverts and Propaganda playlists. Ten days, however, it all changed with a snappy yet pant-wettingly exciting tweet of: ‘Album 3. Finished.’

So the album’s all done and dusted – but what indie-pop goodness lays under the grooves? To be honest, there’s not too much to go by. Contrary to what their debut album’s second single implies, they seemingly can’t talk about all that much. Anyhow, we’ve flitted from URL to URL like Undercover Martyns to squeeze out every last bit of juicy gossip the fruits of dodgy fan forums offer.

BAD NEWS, GOOD NEWS AND A GREAT PUN

Good news and bad news, fellow Basement People. The good news? TDCC got back on the live circuit for the first time in two years a few nights ago, rather brilliantly advertising a gig as a ‘cover band’ Tudor Cinema Club before coming onto stage themselves. The bad news? Apart from Alex Trimble’s dazzling new hairstyle, there wasn’t a whiff of anything new. Bit gutting that nothing fresh was performed, but maybe it’s a hint that the album’s tracks are so gigantic they’re pretty difficult to bust out live. Sadly, it’s looking like we’ll have to wait until their festival sets (think Glastonbury, Reading, Rock Werchter and NOS Alive) to hear some new material.

A photo posted by Rujiraporn (@ymacmac) on Apr 13, 2016 at 4:19am PDT

STOP, COLLABORATE AND LISTEN

Pretty much the only interview mentioning the third album is pretty damn short, and from over two years ago. Bass player Kevin Baird told the Belfast Telegraph that the band are “trying to go back to a similar way as the first one we did”, meaning we could be expecting some more super-quick tunes rather than the more anthemic indie-pop from their last album. Baird also expressed a desire to get involved with some collaborations, although there was no one specific that they were “able to divulge just yet”. So we could expect some collaborations – maybe with some new producers – or perhaps a return to Phillipe Zdar’s Motorbass studio that gave their first LP such a big sound. Considering that their collaboration with Valentina Papparlado on their last album was pretty special, we can hope to see some more cracking vocals intertwined with their angular guitars.

FIVE’S A CROWD

Although no new songs have been played in the recent gigs, a fifth on-stage band member was spotted by Two Door fanatics at BasementPeople.com. It seems to be Jacob M Berry, a session musician who’s played with Dan Croll and Fyfe. Judging by some very technical Ctrl+ detective work, it seems that he was playing keyboard and a bit of guitar. For now, it seems that he’s only going to be a touring member; but the fact that they’ve brought him in at this stage does hint at perhaps a beefier sound and maybe one with more synthy goodness, which would be a natural and pretty exciting progression from ‘Beacon’.

BANGERS FROM BANGOR?

Three: Door Cinema Club? Bangers from Bangor? Alright, we basically don’t have the foggiest about what the album will be titled, but considering it’s been completed we can hope for a name pretty soon. In terms of the cover, it’s definitely best to avoid the whole near-naked girl-made-into-a-lamp thing, as that rightly didn’t go down too well. An outside bet could be placed on one of Trimble’s own photographs, since he’s known to be a keen photographer and even had his own exhibition in London a few years ago.

Two Door Cinema Club will play Best Kept Secret (17th-19th June), where DIY is an official media partner. Tickets are on sale now. Visit diymag.com/presents for more information.

Tags: Two Door Cinema Club, Features