On 3 June 2022, HEADSHRINKERS will release their debut EP: ‘Doorway Conversations’.
Leading the charge, The Black Country-based newcomers are releasing the new single: “The Sea Has No Friends”; a stately slice of poetic rock that arrives in tandem with the EP.
Expertly tapping into and memorialising a certain place and time in history, the latest single from Headshrinkers is a lofty expanse of a track that merges spoken-word lyrics with velvety vocal harmonies and opulent stretches of instrumentals.
As gentle acoustic guitar strums and skillfully-crafted poetry descend into an exhilarating crescendo of steady and majestic drums, jubilant riffs and increasingly urgent vocals, “The Sea Has No Friends” ingeniously boasts the band’s breadth. Straying slightly from the rip-roaring post-punk of their earlier singles, the new track stays true to the band’s knack for capturing the imagination and evoking the sights and sounds of a specific — and at times long forgotten — moment in time.
Of the story behind the track, vocalist and songwriter Garran Hickman explains:
“It was quite the reflective day when I wrote that piece. Words and melody were both written in half an hour. It’s just two entwined memories really: one is of my older relatives sharing stories of their loved ones in the war, and secondly the opening line, ‘the sea has no friends’, are words my dad used to describe the sea.”
Produced and mixed by Gavin Monoghan at Magic Garden Studios in Wolverhampton and engineered by Liam Radburn, the track comes as an astute follow up to the band’s most recent single “Monocle”.
An anthemic and anarchic track with earworm choruses and playful punk instrumentals, “Monocle” came complete with a hedonistic video filmed at the Black Country Living Museum — which featured prominently in hit BBC series Peaky Blinders — and nods to the area’s notorious history.
“The Sea Has No Friends” also comes as another glimpse into Headshrinkers’ forthcoming EP ‘Doorway Conversations’ — a debut poetic upshot that is the culmination of the band’s recent creative output.
The extended release captures the zeitgeist of lyricist Garran Hickmans’ early life through to the present day, with striking observational lyricism blended with heady and acerbic punk instrumentals. With poetry nodding to Hickmans’ youth and videos and artwork paying homage to the band’s home and upbringing in the Black Country, Headshrinkers have set out to create songs expressing anecdotes, memories and misfortunes in their first oeuvre as a form of catharsis to ready them for their promising new chapter.
Now gearing up to release the ‘Doorway Conversations’ EP on 3 June, the band are set to play a run of live dates across the UK this spring. With a frenetic energy and a full-force approach to live shows, frontman Garran Hickman’s captivating, visceral performance takes audiences on a riotous and compelling journey as they are blasted with Headshrinkers’ unrelenting brand of poetry-laced punk. Catch the band at these dates as follows:
HEADSHRINKERS UK LIVE DATES 2022
12th May – Royal Park, Leeds
13th May – The Jacaranda, Liverpool
19th May – Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield
20th May – North Street Social, Wolverhampton