Sheffield band The Farewell State are very proud to present their debut single 'Year Zero'. Recorded with talented local producer Tom Henthorn (New Ghost/Jube) at Make Noise Studios, the song is a twangy surf western protest tune about reaching peak irritation with the world at large and longing to wipe the slate clean to start again from scratch. This is something the band have had to do several times since they started back in 2010. Featuring the group's trademark stop/start dynamic powered by driving drums, pulsating bass and ragged guitars with multi-layered vocals and a desert rock guitar solo breakdown, 'Year Zero' is out 12/04/24 and gives a look ahead to their debut LP 'Dial Everything' in May.

Year Zero - Single

Year Zero

The first version of our single 'Year Zero' is wildly different from the finished album track. The lyric came out as a rant in one splurge during the early 00s and the music took a while to take hold. This was bashed out in a practice room with friend of the band Richard L on drums and Simon thrashing on an acoustic guitar. About five years later the big metal guitars were added and it certainly rocks but lacks the finesse of the finished version. A fun artifact!

Year Zero - Song Evolution

Year Zero (Rich Drums 4 Cash Demo)

Once re-written with the first incarnation of the band, 'Year Zero' took on a quieter more acoustic form. This demo from 2012 sees the band - Simon (acoustic guitar/vocals), Diz Carberry (electric drums) and Tom Wylie (bass) - feel their way around the tune and take the first tentative steps towards the album track and single it is today...

Year Zero (First Band Demo)

After five years of false starts and interruptions, we finally made it into a studio in April 2022 to record our album 'Dial Everything' but the planning up to that was meticulous as this rough demo shows. Using a live rehearsal from 2018 as the backing track, Simon added extra guitars and vocals to try out how the band would attack the song. Listen to this in contrast to the finished thing and you can hear what we did and also what we improved!

Year Zero (Dial Everything Demo)

THE FAREWELL STATE are a ragged glory quartet with ear-worm melodies and emotional alt-rock soul. 

It ain't always pretty but it's usually tuneful.

The Farewell State

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