In one calendar month’s time, The Dust Coda will release their new album Loco Paradise. Building on the success of 2021’s Mojo Skyline, which landed a UK Top 30 spot, the three tracks released so far are a big statement of intent, and the excitement is certainly building amongst the MetalTalk team.
“This album really captures the band at the top of its game,” says guitarist Adam Mackie. “We locked ourselves away in the studio together for a week to live and breathe the creation of Loco Paradise. Just six people constantly feeding off each other 24 hours a day for seven days to give life to these songs and elevate them to a place beyond our expectations. The result is a 54-minute testimony of pure, organic rock ‘n’ roll music.”
The band, who will be supporting Guns N’ Roses at BST Hyde Park on Friday 30th, June and have a headline UK tour this October, have today released Love Sick, the third single from the album. The new single showcases the softer side of the new album and channels influence from the likes of The Black Crowes and Led Zeppelin.
“Simply put, we had a blast,” singer John Drake said. “Sunshine and lollipops, flowers and good vibes, drones flying everywhere, it felt like we were making Apocalypse Now in the Summer of 69.”
The video was produced by Andy Morahan, who directed the Guns N’ Roses’ epic November Rain video and was produced and directed by Josh Trigg, who is known for his work with The Rolling Stones. It perfectly captures the vibe and essence of the track, with the band in total harmony amongst the flickering fields of gold.
“We all got right into it as the lush English countryside felt perfect for the song,” Mackie said. “The crew we were working with were pros and very relaxed, so we tried out all sorts of rad ideas. There is probably some unused footage somewhere of one of us hugging a tree. John also got to wear his beloved Aussie Statesman hat.”
The second single released was Fairweather Love, a piece with pulsing rhythms and soaring vocals reminiscent of Soundgarden. The song is an ode to taking life one moment at a time and celebrating love in all its glory whilst acknowledging nothing lasts forever.
“A toxic, twisted romance,” Drake said. “No future, no past, just the ever-present, day-to-day, no expectation. When it’s good, it’s wild and badass, but when it’s down, the quicksand takes hold, and you get swallowed up in the ocean of loneliness, all the while next to someone you thought you could trust.”
The film was released as the nation received its first emergency alert test and showed the band performing in the Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker. The dystopian themes echo the narrative and the sentiment of trying to break free but not leaving anyone behind, celebrating unity and compassion for one another in a troubled world.
Directed by David Gregory, with Ian Coulson as director of photography, the film and song have a serious meaning, but the band told us they still had fun making the video. “Who wouldn’t want to shoot a video in an underground nuclear bunker,” they said. “It was loads of fun. There were so many tunnels in the place that we got lost trying to find the set. It was like Spinal Tap meets Dad’s Army.”
The first track released, Road To Hell, is the perfect soundtrack to ride off into the sunset with or to raise a beer and rock out to. “Road To Hell sums up the vibe and making of this album perfectly,” Mackie told us. “We started tracking the song at around 10 pm, thinking we’ll just get the drums done so we can get stuck into it first thing the next day. Next thing we know, it’s 4 am, and we are all sinking whisky around the pool table, having just smashed out this monster of a rock song.”
The Dust Coda have a UK headline tour in October, including a date at London’s Dingwalls. Tickets are available from https://thedustcoda.com/tour/.
Loco Paradise is out on 7 July 2023 on Earache Records. Pre-orders are available from https://webstore.earache.com/A-Z/t/the-dust-coda.
