Award-winning international progressive rock band Big Big Train will release their 16th studio album, Woodcut, via InsideOutMusic on 6th February, followed by a UK and European tour in the autumn. Ahead of that, the third and final single from the album, ‘Counting Stars’, is out now. The track was co-written by group founder and bassist Gregory Spawton, with lead vocalist and album producer Alberto Bravin.
“‘Counting Stars’ finds The Artist in a reflective mood as he seeks to find solace in the natural world,” said Spawton, regarding the lead character in what proves to be a concept album. “He remembers a scene from his childhood when he stood on top of a hill at dusk and watched the stars sparkling into life. This experience gave him a sense of wonder at how vast and magnificent everything is. As night falls, he heads out into the countryside to count the stars once more.
“We’re hugely proud of ‘Counting Stars’. Alberto’s vocal performance is spellbinding, while our guitarist Rikard Sjöblom delivers an outstanding guitar solo. The song also features a brief lead vocal cameo, which may surprise listeners as well!”
You can check out videos for the new single and its predecessors here at RAMzine, all created by Crystal Spotlight.
Big Big Train will host a special immersive audio playback event in London on Thursday 5th February, the day before the album’s official release. Full details are available at the band’s website. They have also launched The Artist’s Workshop, a special site dedicated to the album where fans can explore and unlock hidden content related to the storyline.
Woodcut is a landmark release for the international group, marking their first ever full-length conceptual piece. The album is a continuous narrative exploring creativity, sacrifice and the thin line between inspiration and madness.
Spawton explained: “Woodcut tells the story of a character we call The Artist, who is struggling with his creativity and with life. One day he is able to fashion a woodcut which he considers to be beautiful and different. Maybe it’s a dream or maybe it’s real life, but he finds himself stepping into the woodcut scene and into an alternative world.”
Woodcut sees all seven band members making contributions, with frontman Alberto Bravin taking the lead as producer. “This time it’s kind of a new statement for the band. Woodcut is a big step forward for us,” Bravin commented. With more than 400 individual recorded tracks of music to edit, streamline and piece together, and with the connectivity of the album’s storyline and its themed instrumental sections to consider, this was a task of gargantuan proportions.
“I felt a huge sense of relief when Alberto took over as producer,” said Spawton, the band’s final original co-founding member. “Although this is only Alberto’s second studio album with BBT, he is very aware of the traditions of the band and has also brought his own sense of energy to the music.”
Woodcut feels like a Big Big Train record quite unlike any that came before: an assured union of music, storytelling and visual invention. The album is graced with a cover design from Dorset-based artist Robin Mackenzie, a black and white woodcut print derived from a piece the band commissioned specifically for the album.
Available as a limited CD + Blu-ray edition including extensive liner notes as well as Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Surround Sound mixes by Shawn Dealey of Sweetwater Studios, the album will also be available as a gatefold 180g 2LP with special embossed cover, standard CD jewel case and digitally in both stereo and Dolby Atmos versions. It can be ordered via InsideOutMusic.
Featuring 16 tracks across 66 minutes of running time, the full tracklisting is: ‘Inkwell Black’, ‘The Artist’, ‘The Lie Of The Land’, ‘The Sharpest Blade’, ‘Albion Press’, ‘Arcadia’, ‘Second Press’, ‘Warp And Weft’, ‘Chimaera’, ‘Dead Point’, ‘Light Without Heat’, ‘Dreams In Black And White’, ‘Cut And Run’, ‘Hawthorn White’, ‘Counting Stars’ and ‘Last Stand’.
The first single released was ‘The Artist’, followed by ‘The Sharpest Blade’, for which violinist Clare Lindley wrote the lyrics and shared lead vocals with Bravin. “Having gone for a walk in the woods and happened upon an amazing piece of heartwood, lit by a natural beam of sunlight, the Artist has taken it home,” Lindley said. “In the song ‘The Sharpest Blade’, he begins to carve the heartwood. Although he still has doubts and dark inner thoughts, he finds himself carving a wonderful scene. It’s so good that he feels it is perhaps not of his own hand.”
The full band line-up featured on the album is: Alberto Bravin (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Nick D’Virgilio (drums, percussion, 12-string acoustic guitar, vocals), Oskar Holldorff (keyboards, vocals), Clare Lindley (violin, acoustic guitar, vocals), Paul Mitchell (trumpet, piccolo trumpet, vocals), Rikard Sjöblom (guitars, keyboards, vocals), and Gregory Spawton (bass, bass pedals, 12-string acoustic guitar, mellotron, vocals).
The band’s Woodcut & Other Stories Tour will see them play 18 shows across the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Switzerland.
The tour commences in the UK on Friday 25th September before moving into continental Europe. It then returns to the UK, culminating in the band’s debut show at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London on Saturday 17th October. All UK shows will be seated except for Birmingham and Glasgow, which are standing, while all continental European shows will be standing except for those in Italy.
During this tour, the band will focus significantly on Woodcut, as well as playing fan favourites from their back catalogue plus early material which has not been performed for over 25 years.
Regarding the tour, Bravin said: “We’re extremely proud of Woodcut and are really looking forward to bringing it to life on stage next autumn as well as exploring various corners of the band’s back catalogue, some of which will be more familiar to fans than others. We’re planning to play for over two hours each night and I can’t wait to get back on the road.”
Spawton added: “Since Alberto joined the band we’ve played almost 60 shows in the UK, continental Europe, North America and on board Cruise To The Edge. With five members who each have experience fronting bands as vocalists and a number of multi-instrumentalists, I think that over the last few years we’ve proved that this line-up has the ability to perform anything and everything.”
D’Virgilio commented: “This tour is going to be a complete blast. As well as the eight UK shows, it will be great to get back to continental Europe for 10 shows, including performing in Spain and France for the first time, plus our debut indoor shows in Italy. Some of our very best shows recently have been in standing venues, so it will be fun to have two of these in the UK as well.”
Tickets are available via the band’s website.
For more about Big Big Train at RAMzine click here.
