The Clockworks announce debut album Exit Strategy produced by Bernard Butler – and share new single 'Westway'

Following a string of lauded singles, the release of their self-titled debut EP last year, The Clockworks are set to unleash their eagerly anticipated debut album, Exit Strategy, on November 10.

To coincide with today's announcement, the band have released their first new single of 2023, 'Westway' – offering a hugely promising taste of what to expect from the upcoming project, recorded with multi-award-winning producer and former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, at Abbey Road Studios and Love Electric Studios.

It's not Bernard's first time joining forces with an Irish act – having previously worked with Jessie Buckley on the 2022 collaborative album For All Our Days That Tear The Heart, which scored a Mercury Prize nomination.

Despite having yet to release their debut album, The Clockworks – who hail from Galway – have already earned praise from the likes of Iggy Pop, Annie Mac, Simon Le Bon and Steve Lamacq. In 2021 they embarked on a US tour with Pixies, and have also found success with their own headline tour of the UK and Europe.

Lead singer James McGregor says the new single was inspired by the "writing and production of '50s doo-wop, Phil Spector and Motown."

"'Westway' is the album's final track, so we are beginning the album's story with the last scene in the same way that some of the great films, like Goodfellas, begin at the end," he adds.

Exit Strategy follows a central protagonist who moves from Galway to London, "in search of meaning..." Along the way, you can expect encounters with "manipulative bosses, evil ad agencies, a broken pact to flee to Australia, run-ins with the law, cheating boyfriends, drug fuelled youths, heartache, paranoia, social media anxiety and a drunk singer dressed as Jesus."

“We were always sure we wanted the album to be greater than the sum of its parts, so decided to create the world of a film,
entitled Exit Strategy," James resumes. "We envisaged the record as a series of snapshots, telling the story of a group of
characters trying to navigate through life.”

Exit Strategy is out on November 10, and is available to pre-order here.

Watch the video for 'Westway' below:

Exit Strategy tracklisting:

Side A – Galway
1 Deaths and Entrances
2 Bills and Bills
3 Mayday Mayday
4 Enough is Never Enough
5 Hall of Fame
6 Car Song
7 Danny’s Working Like a Dog
Side B – London
8 Feels So Real
9 Advertise Me
10 Modern City Living (All We Are)
11 Life in a Day
12 Lost in the Moment
13 Westway

Album artwork: