Stereophonics have announced their 12th studio album, ‘Oochya!’.
Kelly Jones and co have dropped the brand new single ‘Handing On Your Hinges’ taken from the upcoming follow-up to 2019’s ‘Kind’.
The ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ rockers have also announced an arena tour in support of the LP, which is released on March 4, 2022.
Frontman Kelly, 47 – who released the solo album ‘Don’t Let The Devil Take Another Day’ last year – has teased that the record is “90 per cent uptempo” and takes inspiration from the likes of Sir Elton John, The Cult and the Rolling Stones.
He told NME: “There’s some very anthemic stuff on the album, and one song sounds like The Cult. There are some piano songs like Elton John’s ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, only with weird R&B harmonies. The end of the album is quite Stones-y, like a very earthy session recorded at 2am. It’s got a very positive feel and 90 per cent of it is very uptempo. In these times, I don’t think you can be too introspective. It’ll be a great collection to play live, as it’ll give people a feel-good experience. There are introspective moments, but even they have a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ feel.”
On the origins of the title, ‘Oochya!’, the Welsh star explained: “When we were recording ‘Language. Sex. Violence. Other’ in 2004, it was a word I started writing around the studio, but I don’t know where the hell it came from! To me, it’s a word that Paul Weller or Cockneys like Chas And Dave would say, like ‘Let’s fucking have it!’ I like records like Aerosmith’s ‘Pump’ or The Rolling Stones’ ‘Grrr!’ and ‘Honk’, where the word doesn’t mean anything but still gives you a flavour. The title has a lot to do with the mood of the record, I think. Once you’re going to call your record ‘Oochya!’, it can’t be too introspective.”
Stereophonics 2022 tour kicks off at Manchester Arena on March 18 and wraps in Birmingham on April 2, 2022.
This December, meanwhile, the ‘Dakota’ hitmakers will rock Cardiff Principality Stadium on December 18, supported by Sir Tom Jones and Catfish And The Bottlemen.
Tickets for the 2022 tour go on sale on Friday (10.09.21) at 9am.
Head to stereophonics.com/tour for the full tour dates and ticket information.
The track-listing for ‘Oochya!’ is:
1. ‘Hanging On Your Hinges’
2. ‘Forever’
3. ‘When You See It’
4. ‘Do Ya Feel My Love’
5. ‘Right Place Right Time’
6. ‘Close Enough To Drive Home’
7. ‘Leave The Light On’
8. ‘Running Round My Brain’
9. ‘Every Dog Has Its Day’
10. ‘You’re My Soul’
11. ‘All I Have Is You’
12. ‘Made A Mess Of Me’
13. ‘Seen That Look Before’
14. ‘Don’t Know What Ya Got’
15. ‘Jack In A Box’