Back in June, UK pop-rock band LIFE announced a new album titled A Picture Of Good Health. Composed of brothers Mez Sanders-Green on lead vocals and Mick Sanders on lead guitar, the group have shared a couple singles leading up to next month’s release, including “Moral Fibre” and “Hollow Thing,” both of which had accompanying videos. Now the band are sharing their third single, “Bum Hour.”

Despite the title, nothing in this track suggests a bummer. It’s a ripper, as the shrill synth-tone guitar that accents the high end vocals somehow also serves as a stand-in down beat. The asymmetrical and playful cadence in the vocals at the beginning reminds me of a less goth take on Sisters Of Mercy or Bauhaus, but as soon as the feminine back up vocals come in, that illusion is shattered. Together they chant, and eventually almost screech, “I just wanna lie and sleep in,” throughout the song underscored by a sauntering linear bass riff. Their opening invitation: “Meet me at McDonald’s!”

Some explication from the band:

Bum Hour is the isolation when you shut your door. Bum Hour is about not being at ease on your own. Bum Hour is “that” pattern and routine broken. It’s the need to live again in that moment as you watch the bars buzz from your lone-parent window. Your only comfort, your saviour, your little boy in his bedroom. You find yourself scrolling through your phone an act of self-harm and torture. Your mates are out — you lie down and sleep.

Below, listen to “Bum Hour” and find LIFE’s UK and European tour dates; tickets are available here.

TOUR DATES:
09/01 – Frogmore Hill, UK @ Wilkestock Festival
09/29 – Cologne, DE @ MTC
09/30 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
10/05 – Berlin, DE @ Musik & Frieden
10/06 – Warsaw, PL @ Hydrozagadka
10/07 – Prague, CZ @ Famu
10/08 – Munich, DE @ Kranhallen
10/10 – Zurich, CH @ Dynamo Werk 21
10/12 – Bologna, IT @ Freakout
10/15 – Madrid, ES @ Costello Club
10/16 – Barcelona, ES @ Sidecar
10/17 – Paris, FR @ L’Espace
10/20 – Antwerp, BE @ Cinetol, Amsterdam Mon 21 Kavka
10/24 – Liverpool, UK @ Phase One
10/26 – Blackpool, UK @ Bootleg Social
10/27 – Manchester, UK @ YES
10/28 – Leeds, UK @ Hyde Park Book Club
10/29 – York, UK @ Fulford Arms
10/30 – Glasgow, UK @ King Tuts
11/01 – Aberdeen, UK @ Tunnels
11/02 – Newcastle, UK @ Think Tank
11/04 – Stoke, UK @ Sugarmill
11/05 – Leicester, UK @ Cookie
11/06 – London, UK @ Moth Club
11/07 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach
11/08 – West End Centre, Aldershot, UK
11/10 – Bournemouth, UK @ Anvil
11/11 – Brighton, UK @ Green Door Store
11/12 – Southampton, UK @ Joiners
11/13 – Tunbridge Wells, UK @ Forum
11/14 – St Albans, UK @ Horn
11/15 – Milton Keynes, UK @ Crauford Arms

A Picture Of Good Health is out 9/20 via Afghan Moon and [PIAS]. Pre-order it here.