Dave McCabe on The Zutons' new album and how his sobriety enabled their return

21 February 2024, 19:30 | Updated: 22 February 2024, 00:48

The Liverpool outfit are set to release a new album and embark on UK tour dates this year.

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The Zutons are back after 16 years with a new album, an infectious new single and tour dates for 2024.

The Liverpool trio - comprised of frontman and guitarist Dave McCabe, drummer Sean Payne and saxophonist and Abi Harding - are set to release their fourth studio album The Big Decider on 26th April.

From it comes the lead track Creeping On The Dancefloor, which is also our Radio X Record of The Week.

Watch its accompanying video, which sees dancers from all walks of life bust their best moves, below:

The Zutons - Creeping On The Dancefloor (Official Video)

On why the band haven’t created new material in so many years, frontman Dave McCabe told Radio X’s Dan O’Connell: “I wasn’t really ‘with it’ for a long time though choices of my own… which was enjoyable for a while but then became dead unenjoyable.

“I was just getting off my head and drinking all the time, so I couldn’t sing and I couldn’t function in a band. That’s about 65% of the reason.”

The Valerie singer has been sober now for three years and explained how it’s changed his performances with the band.

He added: "Because we’ve been touring recently and I’m sober now. I’m actually with it. I’m here. I can see the people in the crowd and I can feel the crowd. I’m not just in my own world anymore."

The Big Decider, which you can pre-order here sees the band collaborate with Chic legend Nile Rogers, with The Lightning Seeds' Ian Broudie also at the helm.

It features nine classic Zutons tracks recorded at the world famous Abbey Road Studios in London and the renowned Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire.

It follows the band's 2004 debut Who Killed...... The Zutons?, 2006's Tired of Hanging Around and 2008's You Can Do Anything.

The Zutons' The Big Decider album artwork. Picture: Press

See the tracklist for The Big Decider below:

Creeping on the Dancefloor
Pauline
Water
In Your Arms
Disappear
Company
The Big Decider
Rise
Best of Me

Alongside their new music comes a string of tour dates, which will see them play the likes of New Century Hall in Manchester and will culminate in a homecoming show at the Liverpool Olympia.