BIG SPECIAL - O'JOY! [EP]

“A vital, gripping debut album” CLASH ★★★★

“A dizzying mix of hard and delicate” – DIY ★★★★1/2

“a real piece of art; sheer brilliance from start to finish” – DORK ★★★★★

“brimming with energy, invention, humour, lived experience” – MOJO ★★★★

“as with all new waves of music, there are bands who stand out by bringing in creative and disparate influences. Big Special is one of those bands and Postindustrial Hometown Blues is their gospel.” – New Noise ★★★★1/2

“a heady dose of heart and reality” – NME ★★★★

“a record that’s more complex, more human, and more interesting than anyone could have expected.” The Line Of Best Fit, 9/10

“puts Big Special on the map of great duos producing some of the best music  around at the moment…” Louder Than War, 4.5

“an incredibly well-rounded selection of heart-thumping tracks” Northern Exposure, 9/10

We’ve moved real fast these last few years.

Our first album was a long drawn out process of us contextualising 30 years of experience into a piece of work that represents us, the time we occupy and the history that lead us here.

Our second album was a spur of the moment reflection on how our lives were changing, written performed and put together in a moment between all the other moments of great change, a piece of work like a fence post in a time of our lives and this time in life where we stand as individuals and in a history of working class stock.

This new record is made of all the fallen parts of our first two albums.

We picked them up and took them back to the studio to rework and play with them to make them into their own piece of work that reflects upon what we have done so far. The songs that didn’t fit in the right place at the right time. Including songs that, at the time, might’ve made the albums too long and lean too far into a darker tone, where we wanted to keep the balance of an emotional journey, like watching a movie with your eyes closed.

So we made O’JOY!

A smirking eye roll to dread and discomfort. It all seems like such a downer, but it’s a positive thing to write songs like this, it’s important to remember that songs aren’t pamphlets. They are emotional reactions to how you feel at a certain time, and you need to let yourself feel and express. It’s probably the only reason to write at all, so that you can be who you are when you aren’t writing. Picking up the pen in the first place is an act of hope. Shit out the demons, turn them into music, then get everyone together for a big old bash.

Then crack on. As you were.

We wanted to give these songs their own place and leave nothing behind. We want to empty our clip and then go off to write our next thing. We like to move on creatively so we’re choosing not to hold on to a bank of work that can be repackaged when we need a bit of money or something, or to pressure us to lean in any sort of creative direction.

When this is out, our board is clean, and we best get cracking with the next thing.

We want to play good honest shows and make good honest records, and we want to do that for as long as we can; so here is all we’ve got.

This record is dedicated to the memory of our good friend, Handsome James Borrer.