Blood Red Shoes – Get Tragic //Jazz Life// (Released 25th January)

Description

£17.99 – Standard LP

£22.99 – Limited Edition w/ Alternative Artwork Green & Black Coloured Vinyl LP & Bonus 7″

The story of Get Tragic can be traced way back to the relentless gigging off the back of their 2014 self-produced and self-titled record, when the heels finally fell off of Blood Red Shoes at the end of that same year. A near-decade of incessant road time and a non-stop pace of life finally took its toll, with the band stopping only to quickly hammer out “another ten songs” to release as their next record, before ploughing straight back into touring. The pair exhausted themselves to the point of collapse. “We didn’t, at any point, have a breather,” says Steven Ansel (drums and vocals), “We probably didn’t see each other for about 10 days a year, tops, for six or seven years”. Understandably, such incessant close proximity led to implosion. “We got to the end of the fourth record and were like, ‘Fuck you, I never want to see you again’”, Steven adds, half-laughing, half-sighing.

Vocalist and guitarist Laura Mary-Carter packed her bags and bought a one-way flight to Los Angeles, a complete radio-silence between the two bandmates stretching on for months. It provided her with “a lot of time to reassess” she says. Steven, conversely, “went out and took drugs and went clubbing for about half a year,” he laughs. “I don’t remember a lot about it. Classic break-up move, right?”.

“That’s the whole running theme of this record” says Steven. “The reason we called it Get Tragic is because we realised that everything we’ve been doing over the last three years is kinda tragic!” he says, prompting laughter from the pair. “Just like, ‘Ooh, I hate you, I’m going to America to find myself’, and like ‘Ooh, I’m gonna party for the rest of the year!’ Everything about it is such a cliché – we were like, ‘We’ve turned into a fuckin’ tragedy!’”.

Get Tragic, then, fully embraces the absurdity of Blood Red Shoes situation. As a result, the pair come out the other side sounding fresher and more assured than ever. Through mishap and misfortune, the songs that came out of the sessions were the duo’s light at the end of the ever-expanding tunnel. Through disaster and dismay, the band have emerged reinvigorated. Every incident has fed into a record of defiance and self-acceptance. Knowingly embracing the tragedy of their movements, and the clarity at the end of such woe (they even laugh at the very idea of having a picture of themselves on the cover) Get Tragic is a total reimagining of the Blood Red Shoes you might think you know.

Tracklisting:

A1. Eye To Eye

A2. Mexican Dress

A3. Bangs

A4. Nearer

A5. Beverly

B1. Find My Own Remorse

B2. Howl

B3. (Interlude)

B4. Anxiety

B5. Vertigo

B6. Elijah

Bonus 7”

A1. God Complex

B1. Call Me Up Victoria