Nothing But Thieves: Welcome to the DCC started out as '80s pastiche

22 March 2023, 20:08 | Updated: 22 March 2023, 22:48

Nothing But Thieves talk Dead Club City album

By Jenny Mensah

The band spoke to Radio X's Dan O'Connell about their new Dead Club City album and revealed how its lead single initially put them "on edge".

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Nothing But Thieves' Welcome To The DCC started off as a "pastiche".

The Southend outfit have announced their new Dead Club City album and shared the first taste of what to expect with their fans.

Now, talking about their dance-enthused single lead single - which is Radio X's current Record of the Week - the band have revealed they initially felt "on edge" about the track as they considered a bit of a send-off, but soon fully embraced its sound.

Frontman Conor Mason revealed to Radio X's Dan O'Connell: "We pushed the '80s pastiche when we first started writing it and just had a laugh with it, because [...] it's an introduction, an invitation, so we thought 'Ah let's be silly with it, have fun'".

Watch the official video for Welcome to the DCC here:

Nothing But Thieves - Welcome to the DCC (Official Video)

Speaking of their nod to rave acts, the band cited Justice as an influence, with guitarist Dom Craik explaining: "For this record we were trying to bring in more influences than ever and we were listening to all sorts and some of the French dance stuff was definitely an influence and [Welcome to the] DCC was originally... I dunno, it made us feel a little bit on edge, because it was so far removed from what we normally do, but the more we were living with it the more we just came to love it."

"Because it was this sort of, you know, intro and advertisement to the album, we weren't too worried about it too much," added guitarist Joe Landridge-Brown.

"We didn't think it would be the single or anything so we kind of just thought let it do it's own thing and then it did. It did put us on edge a little bit and then we kinda trapped ourselves when it became quite a good song."

Nothing But Thieves' Dead Club City album is released on 7th July 2023.

Pre-order the album here.

Conor Mason of Nothing But Thieves — Nothing But Thieves have discussed their new album. Picture: Radio X

The band also discussed how seriously they took the construction of the single, with Dom explaining: "We were treating it like a dance song in some respects. The drums are pretty loop heavy and Conor's vocal is meticulously recorded to the point where we were going in and punching in syllables left right and centre to make sure it was the perfect performance.

"We wouldn't normally do that and for some of this album Conor would go in and do a one-take wonder, but this was a different approach to recording, which was cool."

Elsewhere in the interview, the band also confirmed that Dead Club City was indeed a concept album.

Joe explained: "It's about a city-wide members only club called Dead Club City and Welcome to the DCC, the first track, is kinda an advertisement to the city and also the album I guess... so that's worked out quite well".

When Dan asked if he could sign up, Dom joked: "You can. We can't guarantee you'll be on the list".

Nothing But Thieves' Dead Club City album is released on 7th July 2023.

Pre-order the album here.