THE SHABS – announce details for their new album
- Posted on 18-12-2018
Cape Town based folk punk collective The Shabs reveal details for new album “Can You Hear us at the Back”
Can You Hear us at the Back is the second full-length album by Cape Town based folk punk collective The Shabs is set for release on the 1st March 2019. This comes off the back of a very successful year which saw them performing in 7 different countries around Southern Africa and Europe and appearing at various European festivals including Mighty Sounds and Earthquake Festival to name a few.
The album contains 12 tracks which the band has written over the last two years while touring within South Africa and abroad. The songs deal with topics ranging from existing as a DIY alternative band and how tough it is out there to more real issues that people deal with on a day-to-day basis such as depression and alcoholism. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered at Sound and Motion Studios in Cape Town by Simon Ratcliffe, one of the country’s top recording engineers.
Ryan McArthur – Upright Bass & Backing Vocals comments on working with Simon, "As soon as we had the songs written we knew that we had to do this record properly and work with someone who really knew how to capture and translate our live energy onto record. Working with Simon Ratcliffe and Sound & Motion studios was the perfect fit and we couldn’t be happier with the result!"
Jon Shaban – Guitar & Vocals adds, "Can You Hear us at the Back is the best album we’ve ever done and I’m so excited for the world to hear it. Working at Sound and Motion with Simon was an absolute pleasure and we managed to get an album together that is better than I ever imagined it would be. 2018 was an amazing year for the band and we’re really excited to throw this record out into the world and see what 2019 brings us"
The album features a host of very special guest musicians including Richard Case on Electric Guitar and Pedal Steel, Lee Thompson on Trumpet and Flugel Horn, Matthew Willis on Trombone, Ann Donald on Viola, Luke Otto on Cello and Gareth Harvey on Clarinets.
The band will embark on a release tour early in 2019 covering South Africa, Europe, UK and Canada.
Watch the official album teaser video
Video Embed:
Track List
1. Tom and Phillip’s Song
2. The Future Will be Great
3. Just Like Light
4. Try to be Better
5. Nothing to Protect
6. Throw Away
7. Can You Hear us at the Back
8. What’s Done is Done
9. Lesson Learned
10. We’ve All Been There
11. Not Too Late
12. Red Lights, Long Roads
.jpg "The Shabs - Can You Hear us at the Back (cover).jpg")
About the Shabs
The Shabs is a Folk Punk band from Cape Town South Africa. Having gigged extensively across South Africa and Europe for the past 4 years they deliver a tight, captivating set that blends sincere, melodic sing-along folk with the raw energy and DIY ethos of punk rock. Drawing influences from artists such as Frank Turner, Erik Petersen and Against Me! the band never ceases to get a crowd to throw their fists in the air and sing along to their anthemic tunes which have been described as honest, raw and easy to relate to. The band is made up of Jon Shaban on guitar and vocals, Ryan McArthur on double bass and backing vocals, as well as frequent collaborations with drummers and accordion players. Each musician brings their own flare and flavour to the music, adding to the uniqueness of their fresh ‘’High Quality Folk Punk" sound. Since the release of their debut album "Folk is Dead" in February 2016 they have toured relentlessly around South Africa (performing at festivals like Rocking The Daisies, Mieliepop, STRAB, Park Acoustics and FORR) as well as two very successful, 6-week European tours (UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Rep) where they were favourites at festivals like Mighty Sounds, No Borders No Nations and Ziva Ulice.