In a Glasgow beer garden, Niall Goldie is celebrating. The VLURE bassist has just landed a dream support slot touring Europe with Primal Scream – even if it meant losing his day job in the process. Meanwhile, across town, his brother Conor is crafting remixes in his flat, the same space where many of the building blocks for VLURE’s debut album ‘Escalate’ first came together.
This tale of triumph and sacrifice captures the spirit of VLURE’s journey – a band whose story is woven into Glasgow’s nightlife, where delighted highs meet sobering dawns and friendship becomes a fortress against life’s more formidable edges. The city’s influence runs deep through their music, its streets serving as both muse and proving ground for their distinctive sound.
The band’s recent return with ‘Better Days’ was a declaration of intent, a reassertion of their artistic vision after months of balancing band life with the grinding reality of day jobs. “It’s a love letter to Glasgow and to our best mates,” explains Conor, discussing the track, which he and Niall wrote and recorded in a single day. “It’s definitely the most vulnerable track we’ve released to date; it felt right to strip things back given the current state of the things, to just talk about our youth and reference the dance tracks that we grew up listening to – and to remind people who’ll listen that community, partying and making memories with your friends holds more weight than ever.”
The path to ‘Escalate’ hasn’t been straightforward. Since their 2021 debut single ‘Shattered Faith’, VLURE have been juggling festival appearances at Glastonbury and European tours with the grinding reality of day jobs. But that duality – transcendent nights and working days – has shaped their debut album into something extraordinary. It’s a testament to their resilience that they’ve managed to use these challenges as creative fuel.
Their latest single ‘Feels Like Heaven’ exemplifies this approach, emerging from years of development and live performances before finding its final form. “I put together the instrumental and vocal sample hook for that track a couple of years ago on my sampler,” Conor reveals. “We’ve already performed it live at festivals last year and on multiple tours. Being able to make an album meant we could actually afford to record and mix it!” The track’s evolution from live favourite to recorded masterpiece illustrates VLURE’s patient, perfectionist approach to their craft.
The song carries is a personal one for vocalist Hamish Hutcheson. “I hope ‘Feels Like Heaven’ has a different meaning to each listener,” he considers. “For me, it’s about finding the right person at the right time. Someone that makes you feel worthy and makes life full, even on the days when you feel nothing’s going your way.” This vulnerability has become a hallmark of VLURE’s songwriting.
‘Escalate’ emerges as a narrative journey through youth itself, mapping the territory between weekend revelry and Monday morning reality. As Conor explains: “Lyrically ‘Escalate’ discusses themes of coming of age, finding yourself, love, partying and youthful abandon, but also the heavier side of that; grief, nostalgia, addiction, recklessness and knowing when to hold your mates close. We wanted this record to be equal parts euphoric and reflective but overall positive and fulfilling; its aim is to find power in the whole process of becoming who you are, with a night out in Glasgow’s clubs, pubs, parks, flats and afters as the backdrop.”
The album’s sonic palette reflects this ambitious scope, drawing from a variety of influences while maintaining its own distinct identity. Working with renowned electronic producer Manni Dee, VLURE have crafted something that defies easy categorisation. “We wanted this to be a crossover record in every sense and not to be pigeonholed by the perception of us as a ‘band’,” Conor notes. “There are moments that are full post-punk band chaos, but there are also moments that certainly live in the clubs; Manni being one of the UK’s most forward-thinking electronic producers, as well as his former techno life helped us hone in on this.”
The recording process itself became a testament to their DIY spirit and determination, combining home studio ingenuity with professional expertise. “We recorded the synths and programming in our home studios on Logic and Ableton. The live instruments were recorded in the live room together as a solid performance at 45 A-Side Studios in Glasgow. For the vocals, we recorded those at Hamish’s gaff in Ballieston,” Conor shares, adding with characteristic enthusiasm, “We loved every single minute of it.”
The technical challenges were real – “Just my MacBook’s RAM capacity, to be honest,” Conor jokes – but the bigger challenge lay in merging their electronic and live elements. Enter mixing engineer James Rand, who Conor praises as “an incredibly talented engineer” who “understood exactly what we were trying to do.” This collaboration proved crucial in realising VLURE’s vision of a record that could live comfortably in both live venues and late-night headphones.
When asked about the best possible compliment for the album, their answer reveals much about VLURE’s artistic integrity: “Hopefully, that it doesn’t sound like anything else around at the moment. This was something we discussed in depth, just retaining focus on doing what felt right to us and not trying to overly reference things. To go and move relentlessly with the feeling and our immediate responses!”
For VLURE, a great debut album comes down to “emotional integrity.” It’s an apt description for ‘Escalate’, which captures the raw essence of nights that blur into mornings, of friendships forged in dark clubs and tested in bright daylight.
As for where they hope this album takes them? “That’s not entirely something we’ve considered or something we like to think about,” they admit. “We hope there’s something in this record for everyone and that the people it reaches are able to find some of themselves in it, connect with it and are able to make some mad memories with their mates shouting the words with us at the live shows. It’s all for the memories.”
While VLURE’s sound might reach for the stars, their hearts remain firmly rooted in the streets of Glasgow and in the connections forged there. Oh, and one last thing they want everyone to know? “Protect the dolls!”
VLURE’s debut album ‘Escalate’ is out 26th September.
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