Knight and gale sing

According to Turin Brakes’ Olly Knight, their new single ‘Long Distance’ is “the bridge song” between the quiet intensity of their Mercury-prize nominated debut, The Optimist LP and their forthcoming second album, which takes the duo in something of a new direction.

“We wanted to move on and do something different, so the new material is mostly recorded with a live band,” Olly explains. “The new album is more upbeat and confident, although lyrically the songs are similar. It still has mellow moments, but we’ve taken a turn to a rockier, more energetic style.”

Olly Knight and Gale Paradganian have been making music together since they both received their first guitars for Christmas at the age of seven.

“We’re a duo essentially, but we can evolve into different things,” Gale explains. “It’s great playing with a full band, but it’s good not to be stuck with the same people forever, as it can become very stale. We have to keep surprising ourselves.”

With this in mind the pair have just completed an extensive acoustic tour, prior to supporting David Gray with full band on his arena tour. “We wanted to show the new songs off in a really naked way, so people would understand what was making us tick,” Olly recalls. “The fans reacted totally positively to the new material.”

They believe anyone who has enjoyed their powerful live shows in the past will certainly appreciate the less insular approach of their new album, but there’s still a slight concern over how some fans accustomed to the ways of their so-called ‘quiet-core’ debut will react. “It’s worrying,” Gale admits. “It would be easier to make the same album over and over, but it’s always been our aim for Turin Brakes to be a progressive band. Every time we make an album we want it to be as exciting for us as for everyone else, so it’s a risk you have to take.”