Jubilee Riots

(Photo: Facebook)

By Walter Price

What happens when you’re a successful touring band and decide to change your name midstream, ask your fans to submit letters telling their stories and you use those letters as the foundation for a new album?

I’ve known plenty of artists being closely connected to their fans but Jubilee Riots have gone steps further and have made their fans a part of the band’s legacy. In my opinion that is about as close to the reason this band’s story could be as important as the right-on folk based pop infused rock they’re creating.

From the ashes of Enter The Haggis Bruce McCarthy, Craig Downie, Trevor Lewington, Mark Abraham and Brian Buchanan shifted gears in their already established careers and did just these things. Now with the history rich name Jubilee Riots the band is set to release a 10 track album Penny Black (Out 4 November 2014). An album inspired by a worldwide fan outpouring of correspondences.

In a blog post vocalists Trevor Lewington wrote this of the fan letters, “I was at home a fair bit around the time I started to read the letters and my wife and kids were at school so I had the place to myself to sing and strum and record little demos.  I read through the letters at first without any thought to music, taking notes on them so I had a list of all of the letters and a few lines reminding me what they were about.  I also made a list of categories such as love, death, birth, war, etc., as I noticed pretty early on that there were emerging themes.  I highlighted the ones that I either really enjoyed or that I thought would make a good song.”

Their new  love will be found track ‘Cut The Lights’ came from inspirations found in the stories in these letters and it finds the band bringing a sound reminiscent of what U2 left behind long ago. A sound perfectly matched by the story-line. The track is warmth.

If it were possible, I’d be as intrigued to read the stories (letters) the band received as guidance almost as much as I’m eager to hear this new album. There is tactile and connective coolness to it all. In a world full of festival headlining arrogance clogging the seas of Rock N’ Roll, Jubilee Riots approach is as fresh as anything the music world has been afforded in recent times.Good on ya Jubilee Riots.

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