Baby Strange – Johnny Madden, vocals/guitar, brothers Connaire McCann on drums and Aidan McCann on bass – out of Glasgow got a head start on the new year in January, snagging the attention of Amazon UK, who included them in their “New and Emerging” acts to watch in 2016, and were chosen to be part of the Great X-Pectations class of 2016 by Radio X, which adds to other accolades Baby Strange has rightly received since their start in 2012.
The single “California Sun” was released July 31 of 2015, with this lovely state that I live in as inspiration for heartbreak and desire, as Madden sings the opening line, “California Sun, why’d you never come here?” Here in Hollywood, those two emotions have a legacy for running quite thick, and thanks to global warming, Southern California’s warmth, at least sun-wise, may have a far better chance of reaching all the way across the Atlantic. Much more than a consolation prize, the three-piece will come closer to balmy breezes via Austin when Baby Strange plays SXSW.
In a recent interview with The Seventh Hex, Madden explained how the song evolved when the other two members were brought into the creative process, “Having Connaire and Aidan playing it with me really opened my eyes to what it could be. I never really thought the song would work for us but when we gave it a go it became a different animal, as before it sounded more like a singer-songwriter.”
The video for “Pleasure City” is a night of pure debauchery out with the boys, carousing in a limo, creating a scene where the effects of the hangover are already seeping in…and it’s only 8pm. Coincidently, or not, the ad on YouTube that ran right before their video was for the RumChata Fiery Cappucino Martini (by the way RumChata, you spelled cappuccino incorrectly). Damn those “get out of my head” agro-rhythms.
ALBUM pic.twitter.com/GYhYW49Ppq
— BABY STRANGE (@BABYSTRANGEX) February 20, 2016
With four single E.P.’s in 2015, including “Trouble” and “VVV”, five others between 2013 and 2014, plus compilation appearances, including on New Moons Volume 1 with Bloody Knees, Tall Ships and Slaves, Baby Strange is due for a full-length this year. But they’ve said they’re not ones to rush the process. That’s cool. We’ll wait…until Baby Strange play Wednesday, March 16th at Javelina with MuI Bien, and Summer Cannibals. The finished product may not be ready for prime time, but the songs will. Expect to get an earful.
