Really driving home the fact that the #NDUnit is stronger than ever Neck Deep have joined with fans to create a music video for brand new single “When You Know”.
After the current COVID-19 crisis derailed the band’s plans for their music video shoot, they took to the internet to ask fans, friends and fellow artists to help them create a one-of-a-kind lyric video for the track.
Speaking of the new song, singer Ben Barlow says, “‘When You Know’ is a song about realizing you’re in love. The old saying ‘when you know, you know’ was in my mind with this one.”
“In the timeline of ADAI this is where Jett realises, after a wild night out, and another night talking about how they see the world and realising they share similar feelings, that he is in love with Alice,” reveals Barlow. “The mutual feeling of not belonging, the difficulties of their day to day lives and battling their inner insecurities, yet now having each other to ease the pain and giving a sense of purpose is the key take-away from this song. It’s a pretty straight up summer love song, but one that’s mega catchy and feel good – a stark contrast to some of the more emotionally heavy songs on the record.”
“When You Know” joins “Lowlife” as the second single from the band’s forthcoming album, ‘All Distortions Are Intentional’. Due out July 24, 2020 via Hopeless Records, this is no mere collection of songs. ‘All Distortions Are Intentional’ is conceptually rich, with themes of disconnection, existential confusion, and the search for meaning.
The album tells the story of a loner named Jett, who lives in Sonderland, a combination of “Wonderland” and the somewhat obscure word “sonder”: the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own, with their own ambitions and worries. “It’s that strange existential realization that you are not the entire world,” explains singer Ben Barlow. “Everyone around you feels and lives the same way that you do. You’re just an extra in their story.”
The forthcoming album is the follow up to 2017’s monumental release, ‘The Peace And The Panic‘, which catapulted the band into mainstream success with a #2 charting position on the US Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart and welcomed their first U.S. Late Night TV performance. ‘All Distortions Are Intentional’ is a journey of self-discovery and personal expression not unlike the rise of the band itself.
Neck Deep enlisted the talents of Grammy-nominated A-list producer Matt Squire (Panic! At The Disco, Ariana Grande, One Direction) to create ADAI, recording in Wales at the legendary Monnow Valley Studio, which has been a recording home for artists like Oasis, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Joss Stone and more. Squire and Neck Deep tucked themselves away at the world famous residential studio, located in the gorgeous but remote Wye Valley in the heart of the band’s native Wales. The decision to create the album ‘at home’ was an important one; on the eve of what’s certain to be Neck Deep’s greatest exposure to the world yet, it’s a grateful and decisive acknowledgment of where they’ve come from, both literally and figuratively.
Neck Deep leapt from side project to full time band in 2012, after a single track online led to a pair of EPs followed by a deal with Hopeless Records. They struck a chord with a burgeoning audience, quickly heralded as leaders of a resurgence in hook-heavy punk, with an immediate accessibility and fun attitude combined with genuine concern for issues like loneliness, depression, and anxiety. The instant relatability of the band’s songs and overall approachable attitude endeared them to a new and incredibly passionate generation, with devotion to rival the biggest titans of melodic rock.
‘All Distortions Are Intentional’ marks Neck Deep’s arrival as an arena-confident band. Having mastered all of the strengths of the scene that birthed them, Neck Deep have evolved to this next stage, and as their crowds grow larger, it’s clearer than ever just how much this “silly little band” has come to mean to people.
‘All Distortions Are Intentional’ is available for pre-order today at smarturl.it/NDADAI
Neck Deep is Ben Barlow (Vocals), Matt West (Guitar), Sam Bowden (Guitar), Seb Barlow (Bass) and Dani Washington (Drums).