This year marks 30 years since Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton released their debut single as Arab Strap. The Scottish rockers have put out two albums since ending their 16-year hiatus in 2021 — As Days Get Dark and the memorably-titled I’m totally fine with it ? don’t give a fuck anymore ? — and now they've got another one on the way. Half-Told Tales arrives this September, and along with today's announcement comes lead single "You You You."
"You You You" is a dark, dancey anthem about how everybody has their own baggage to carry: "I’ve got a hole in my shoe that lets in rain/ And another new lump in another vein/ I’ve got pills for breakfast every day/ To keep my pains and fears at bay," Moffat muses. He adds in a press release:
That there are millions of us out there dealing with the same worries every day: from the rising costs of absolutely everything, our mental and physical health, the constant slaughter and tyranny in our newsfeeds, to playing an unwitting part in the military industrial complex, and the endless warping of reality. It can often feel like a complete absence of human decency – it’s no wonder that despondency can feel like our default disposition... It was designed as a kind of invocation to bring forth the stubbornly elusive spirits of hope and solidarity.
Check out Luke Bovill's "You You You" video below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "I Get Noise"
02 "You You You"
03 "Be A Man"
04 "Fighting For You"
05 "Glamour Magick"
06 "Gape"
07 "Under Offer"
08 "Basic Physics"
09 "Sunsong"
10 "Dollar Park"
11 "Mr. Splitfoot"
12 "Ampersand"
13 "Fragments"
14 "Beats Per Minute"
Half-Told Tales is out 9/4 via Rock Action.
