Man/Woman/Chainsaw are back with another taste of their highly anticipated debut album, Cannonball, sharing the ambitious new single ‘Get Up and Dance’.
Set for release on 7 August via Fiction Records, the track is the fourth preview of the album and marks the first Man/Woman/Chainsaw release to feature Emmie-Mae Avery on lead vocals.
And it’s another seriously intriguing addition to their growing catalogue.
‘Get Up and Dance’ sees the London band push their orchestral sound into overdrive, with swirling synths and strings moving around each other as the track builds into something theatrical, unpredictable and wonderfully chaotic.
For Avery, the song is set in a nightclub, where someone who has spent the evening trying their luck with different people catches her attention.
“It starts playful but then takes a forceful approach, as you push them to prove their interest and test how far they’ll go, aiming to have them make a fool of themselves.”
The single follows ‘Only Girl’ and ‘Nosedive’, both of which have received support from BBC Radio 6 Music, as well as previous album track ‘Adam & Steve’.
A debut album years in the making
Cannonball arrives after a huge couple of years for Man/Woman/Chainsaw.
The band, who formed when its members were just 16, have gone from writing songs in a converted vicarage to selling out London’s Scala and multiple UK tours, performing sessions for KEXP and Steve Lamacq at BBC 6 Music, and making their SXSW debut in Austin.
Recorded at RAK Studios with producers Seth Evans and Margo Broom, Cannonball brings together 11 tracks that move between huge choruses, unconventional song structures and quieter, more vulnerable moments.
Drummer Lola Cherry says the band initially imagined making “a whole record of bangers”, before realising that the softer moments were just as important to their sound.
That balance looks set to be one of the album’s biggest strengths. There’s plenty of ambition here, but Cannonball also sounds like a young band figuring out exactly what they want to be.
And judging by what we’ve heard so far, they’re getting pretty close.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw hit the road
The band will celebrate the arrival of Cannonball with a run of UK in-store performances around release week, including dates at Rough Trade East in London, Resident Records in Brighton, Rough Trade Bristol and Nottingham, as well as Liverpool and Bury.
Then comes the main event.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw will head out on a UK and Ireland tour in September and October, taking their new material to venues across the country.
The run kicks off in Belfast on 19 September, followed by Dublin, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow and Sheffield. They’ll then travel to Guildford, Brighton, Portsmouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham and Birmingham before bringing the tour to a close at London’s Electric Ballroom on 7 October.
The band will also appear at festivals throughout the summer, including Float Along Festival in Sheffield on 26 September.
Man/Woman/Chainsaw live:
- 19 Sept – Belfast, Ulster Sports Club
- 20 Sept – Dublin, Whelan’s
- 22 Sept – Manchester, Gorilla
- 23 Sept – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
- 24 Sept – Newcastle, The Grove
- 25 Sept – Glasgow, King Tut’s
- 26 Sept – Sheffield, Float Along Festival
- 29 Sept – Guildford, The Boileroom
- 30 Sept – Brighton, Concorde 2
- 1 Oct – Portsmouth, The Wedgewood Rooms
- 2 Oct – Bristol, Thekla
- 3 Oct – Cardiff, The Globe
- 5 Oct – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
- 6 Oct – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
- 7 Oct – London, Electric Ballroom
Tickets for all shows are on sale now.
With Cannonball finally arriving this August, Man/Woman/Chainsaw look increasingly ready to step out from the promise of their early releases and properly claim their place among the UK’s most exciting young bands.
Cannonball tracklisting
- Only Girl
- Canyons
- Goddamn, Lizard Man!
- Lighter
- Nosedive
- Get Up and Dance
- Snakebite
- Flick of the Wrist
- The Thing
- Still Angry
- Something Else to Give
Man/Woman/Chainsaw – Cannonball
Out 7 August via Fiction Records
Pop Scoop founder and editor. Ex showbiz/tech editor at the Cyprus Mail. Former sub-editor at Archant. Former art director Sky TV. Co-founder of Kool Magazine and freelanced for the BBC, Channel 4, Warner Bros and the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
