Liverpool-based fourpiece Courting return with the first act from their upcoming sophomore album, ‘New Last Name’. The new album came together as a play, even though the band admit that ‘New Last Name’ isn’t really a play… Whilst it is tied together by a narrative thread – it’s actually a collection of their most contained pop songs, and strangest experiments sat side by side. ‘New Last Name’ is unrestrained and chaotic, and at the same time more focused and detailoriented than anything Courting have done before. It’s a study in contradictions, and it’s the best damn play south of the North Pole. Brimming with nuance and pop culture references, the only constant is that the Liverpool gang maintain their irrepressible sense of abandon. “We’d spent our last album campaign giving ourselves a fresh slate,” explains vocalist Sean Murphy-O’Neill. “That whole record to me in hindsight felt like we had a chance to get rid of any misconceptions about us and present ourselves as an interesting band. On ‘New Last Name’, we’re moving past that, we just want to make something really special.” In a strange way this album is the band’s true introduction, or they confidently put it, “It’s all hits.” The results are as thrilling as they are rewarding. From the funk-pop guitars in ‘We Look Good Together’ through to the baroque strings in ‘Flex’ or even the country-tinged stylings of ‘Babys’, it would be an understatement to call ‘New Last Name’ adventurous.

LP pressed on white vinyl.