Brit-rockers, Stereophonics, rounded out 2021 with a nostalgic return to the road, with the group celebrating the 20th anniversary of their seminal album, ‘Just Enough Education to Perform’, with a string of intimate UK dates. “It was nice to get back on the road. It was good to see the boys.It was good to play some songs off ‘Just Enough Education to Perform’. Some of those songs we had never played live, ever,” said Stereophonics frontman, Kelly Jones. “It was kind of two shows in one really. The first hour was talking about the album and doing the album, and the second part was performing some new songs and doing some classics from the catalogue. It was all meant to be leading up to the big stadium shows in Cardiff – that obviously got cancelled. So yeah, just as we got going, it got halted again. It was good while it lasted.”
Thankfully, Stereophonics will be returning to the road as part of an extensive UK arena tour throughout March and April, promoting their new album, ‘Oochya!’. The group’s latest offering has garnered several radio singles to date. Jones states: “The songs that have been released so far have been received really well. ‘Hanging On Your Hinges’, ‘Do Ya Feel My Love’ and ‘Forever’ have been very favourably received. It’s been a really good start to people hearing new music.”
But with such a strong back catalogue in addition to their new material, how will the band pick the set-list for their forthcoming tour? “We’re going to be doing songs from across the whole catalogue as well as some of the new songs. So, it’s kind of hard to fit twelve albums’ worth of material into one show. It’s not a bad problem to have,” proclaims Jones.
Stereophonics recent single, ‘Hanging On Your Hinges’, had originally been brought to the table during the recording of their last studio album, ‘Kind’. However, Jones said that: “I knew immediately that it wouldn’t fit on the album because it was too different for the mood of the record.” Fortunately, the track has found its home on the group’s new album: “I think it was maybe influenced by the early ZZ Top stuff when they were doing albums like ‘Tres Hombres’. It’s very kind of swampy sounding,” said Jones. “It’s a good, fun track and people have been enjoying it live on the six shows we’ve managed to play.”
Kelly concludes by elaborating on both his and the band’s plans for the remainder of 2022: “This album is going to be coming out and then we’re going to do the shows. I don’t know how much we’re going to be travelling overseas because, obviously, that’s all a bit strange at the minute. I know we’re going to be doing a bunch of bigger festivalshows in the UK and a couple in Europe, maybe,” said Jones. He added: “I’ve been working on another record with another band too, with some friends from Austin, Texas. Hopefully, some of that music comes out this year as well. That was with a band called The Wind and The Wave (they opened for me on my solo tour). The singer, Patty [Lynn], we did some songwriting together with her and Dwight [Baker]. It’s a really strong record. So, we’re working on a plan to get that out this year too.”
‘Oochya!’, the new album from Stereophonics, will be released on Friday 4th March. The band will perform at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena on Thursday 24th March. Tickets, priced from £38.25, are available from utilitaarena.co.uk.
