DIY heroes TV Priest have shared ‘This Island’ ahead of the release of their eagerly awaited debut album ‘Uppers’ on 13 November (Hand in Hive). Entirely self-recorded, it follows 6 Music plays for all of their previous singles and has cover artwork from the band’s frontman Charlie Drinkwater (who also designed the latest Fontaines D.C. album cover).
The track opens with gothically onymous and atmospheric tones that sum up the state of Britain right now. Charlie offers cutting observations (‘In its day everyone spoke the same’; ‘You’d like to build a new island’) about British exceptionalism and the way outsiders are no longer made to feel welcome as the slow-burning bass sound intensifies alongside post-punk hooks and the declaration that ‘it was a sunset to remember’.