the xcerts

Uncover Music presents the xcerts The Xcerts have always been a band who push themselves. Formed in Aberdeen in 2001 before relocating to Brighton a few years later, the trio - vocalist/guitarist Murray Macleod, bassist Jordan Smith and drummer Tom Heron - have, through hard work and an abundance of heart(break) and passion, long since established themselves as one of the UK's best alternative outfits. But while most bands would be content to rest on their laurels after finding a formula that works, The Xcerts have always refused to do so. Instead, driven by an ever-evolving creative vision, they've continually pushed both their own boundaries and those of the scene they're in. And so, for every album-from 2009's debut, In The Cold Wind We Smile, to 2023's fifth full-length, Learning How To Live And Let Go-the band have started essentially from scratch, following their hearts rather than relying on past glories to shape their present or future. That's exactly what they've done for their new album 'i think i want to go home now.' Recorded by Larry Hibbitt's at Beehive Studios, its 10 songs were written either side of the tenth anniversary tour celebrating 2014's third album, There Is Only You, something which helped infuse the trio's songwriting sessions with a deserved sense of proud accomplishment. It wasn't, however, until the third song they wrote for the record, 'do it to myself', where everything clicked. That's the song that vocalist/guitarist Murray Macleod says "sets up the chaos of the record" and which defined the album's overall direction. "It was kind of the lightbulb moment of where we wanted to take the entire record sonically," he says. "We were so excited about the energy of it - it was a very eye-opening and life-affirming feeling to actually see one another get excited playing music together." Written by three of them together in a room - something they hadn't done on 2023's Learning How To Live And Let Go - the songs are sonic manifestations of the mutual support and friendship that got the band through a particularly turbulent time that included Smith's mother passing away and Macleod's dad having a cancer scare. The singer's long-term relationship also collapsed. But this is a band who have always been propelled by a strong sense of defiance in the face of adversity, one who have had to push through darkness on numerous occasions throughout their career into some kind of light. "The record is really about the two previous years we lived that were exceedingly hellish," says Macleod, "and me really not helping myself in terms of lifestyle. I was living in a permanent world of escapism, because I was struggling to face what was actually occurring." Intriguingly, there were a number of stark similarities to that very first record. Smith had lost his father before they made that one, and Macleod had gone through a devastating break-up. To say that history had repeated itself would undermine the emotional gravitas of these latest life experiences, but the band found it hard not to compare what had this time around with back then. If the trauma running through i think i want to go home now. is familiar territory, the band approach it with a fresh and invigorated attitude. Interestingly, the title reflects both sides of that coin. Initially a joke inspired by childhood sleepovers where you suddenly wake up and want to go back to your house, it soon took on a more serious, poignant meaning. Indeed, the idea of 'home' became a constant on this record, one that's both a reprieve and a heavy heart. It reflects both Macleod and Smith's numerous travels back to their hometown of Aberdeen during its making, but is also inspired by Macleod's partner moving back home - leaving the one they'd built together - for a while before the couple eventually broke up. Musically, these ten songs are the perfect manifestation of that contradiction, representing who The Xcerts are now as much as who they've always been. Opener 'do it to myself' is a frenetic rush of raw emotions and jittery self-examination that veers between hopeless and hopeful for its three minutes and 16 seconds of existence, while second song 'wow' is a Pixies-inspired stomp that attempts to take stock of the darkness into which this album was born, but exists full in the knowledge that that's impossible. That's denoted by Macleod whispering its title by way of introduction at the song's start. "It's meant to be humorous in a dark way," he says. "It's me taking a breath with a bird's eye view of everything that happened and being brutally honest about it all. For the past few records, I've been trying to act like a lighthouse, either for myself or for the listener, but with this one I couldn't. So I just spoke my truth, however uncomfortable it was." As uncomfortable as it was, and as difficult and dire as its inspiration was, this album thrives because of it. 'sinking feeling' and 'bury you' trawl the dark depths of human emotion but nevertheless emerge as catchy blasts of emotional defiance, 'pretty ugly' is a quasi-grungy blast of vicious attitude, and 'losing it' starts off as an almost Elliott Smith-esque lament before bursting into a full-colour explosion of, if not quite joie de vivre, then at least full-bellied relief that what hasn't killed the band has, indeed, made them stronger. Even the notably slower moments here - the soothing, comforting 'dream you in' and the delicately plaintive first two-thirds of closer 'in your eyes' - defy the sadness imbued and embedded within them. Much of that is down to the strength of the band as a unit and, most importantly, as friends. After all, that's been developing alongside their constantly evolving creativity for more than two decades now. The result is an album that captures the highs and lows of the human condition that forges ahead into another new era for the band while simultaneously recalling everything that's always made them great. And as that last song fades out - to a recording of Smith's late mother saying 'I love you' - the power and strength of The Xcerts, both in terms of their music and their friendship, in the face of adversity is abundantly clear once again. "It was really time for us to band together and celebrate our friendship," says Macleod. "We're so proud that we're still doing this, because we started the band 23 years ago. It's astonishing really. This really is the purest Xcerts record there's been since the first one. We dug really deep to discover what the defining sound of our band is and bled it all out".