THE SHERLOCKS share new single “Games You Play”

THE SHERLOCKS share new single "Games You Play"

3rd December sees The Sherlocks share their newest single “Games You Play”, the fourth track released from their anticipated forthcoming LP, World I Understand. Kicking off with the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar and the crooning vocals of lead singer Kiaran Crook, it’s quick to hear that this is The Sherlocks at their most melancholy, most introspective. The melody gradually builds as further instruments are introduced – from delicate strings to sparkling electric guitars – with Crook reflecting on the emotions of losing touch with someone close to you.

“’Games You Play’ was one of the first songs I ever wrote and somehow it ended up on our third record”, explains Kiaran Crook. “When the chorus kicks in it feels sad to me, but at the same time uplifting! It’s a beautiful tune that feels full of spirit and emotion.”

The band recently announced their UK headline tour, taking place in February and March 2022. With the ammunition of new album World I Understand under their belts, next year’s headline tour is not one to be missed. Kicking off in Blackpool on 4th February and ending in London on 12th March, expect the group to bring the magnetism and swagger they are known for to audiences across the nation in the new year. Full dates and tickets info can be found here https://www.seetickets.com/tour/the-sherlocks.

Listen to ‘Games You Play’ – BELOW:

While the rest of the world was put on hold, The Sherlocks were undergoing a rebirth. Like every other band, their plans for 2020 were scuppered by a coronavirus. In early March they completed an initial low-key UK tour to support their 2019 second album Under Your Sky, but planned tours of America and the far east were scrapped along with what was gearing up to be a triumphant summer of high-billing festival shows. But their woes were compounded when Josh and Andy Davidson, the guitar and bass-playing brothers with whom the Crooks had formed the band as teenage neighbours in 2010, declared that they wanted to leave the band after the scheduled dates. “They wanted to slip back into normal life,” Brandon Crook explains. “It is a very weird job. It’s 24-seven and they’d spent 10 years with us going round in a van. They probably just couldn’t see themselves doing it for another 10 years or 20 years.”

Bolton On Dearne’s The Sherlocks were certainly a slow-burn overnight sensation. Ascending swiftly from stints in working men’s clubs to rammed, buzzing and riotous gigs on the nearby Sheffield scene, they were embraced as the city’s next big guitar stars – the next-gen Arctic Monkeys, if you will – and the band set to launch the next wave of Sheffield alt-rock. Which they did: a series of self-released singles and EPs, beginning in 2012 and really kicking into gear with their Arctics-style signature anthem ‘Live For The Moment’ in 2014, spread the word like wildfire.

Over two years of hard touring, The Sherlocks rose to two-thousand capacity venues across the north of England, caught the ear of Radio 1, 6 Music, Radio X and Soccer AM and signed to Infectious in October 2016. A smart signing; months before their 2017 debut album Live For The Moment hit Number Six in the UK they were already crowned as local heroes at the Sheffield Arena, supporting Kings Of Leon.

With Under Your Sky also hitting the Top Twenty, it was an upward momentum no amount of personal or pandemical pitfalls could thwart. “[Coronavirus] was a bit of a blessing in a way,” says Brandon, “because it’s given us time to get new people in, get up to speed and record a new album.” Guitarist Alex Proctor was a fretboard “wizard” suggested by their sound guy (“He used to be in a Sex Pistols tribute band for some years,” Brandon laughs), and bassist Trent Jackson met the band while doing backline at some of their festival dates.

After several months of rehearsal and WhatsApp training, The Sherlocks hit Rockfield reinvigorated, determined to “capture some of the energy we had on the first album” and bearing the best collection of tunes of their career so far.

Rich, mighty and mature, World I Understand is The Sherlocks’ coming of age.

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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