BLUE BENDY ditch rock star clichés for signed vinyl and sword rentals on debut album, ‘So Medieval’. Check out the latest cover story for our New Music Friday playlist edit, PLAY.
Words: Stephen Ackroyd.
It isn't easy being in a band. It might sound like it's all glitz and glamour: headline shows, adult fizzy pop, bright lights and adoration. It isn't. It's actually mostly waiting about logistics and, erm, cramp?
"We were at our label HQ signing booklets going inside the limited edition vinyl," guitarist Joe Nash explains. "250 doesn't sound like loads, but wrist cramps start about 100."
Still, there are positives and negatives. It's the first day of spring, it's not raining, and Blue Bendy are "feeling fresh and pretty floral". Alongside scribbling their names across hundreds of records, they've been looking into renting swords and suits of armour for a music video. Maybe it is pretty glamorous, after all.
The band's debut album, 'So Medieval', is a testament to their unconventional approach. It's a glorious sonic labyrinth, a clash of genres that sounds like an olden-days rock opera scored by a band raised on a healthy dose of psychedelics.
"I think we had the core of 'Cloudy', 'The Day I Said You'd Died' and 'Come On Baby, Dig!' written before our EP 'Motorbike' came out in 2022," Joe recalls, shedding light on the album's long gestation period. "We were certainly playing 'in progress' versions of these at all the gigs supporting the EP release. They were the first three we recorded.
