Since their 2003 debut, The Wave Pictures, “one of the UK’s most underrated bands”, have been relatively prolific in their output. However, their last two releases, Look Inside Your Heart and Brushes With Happiness, reviewed here, were released in 2018, so I’m pretty sure that their upcoming double album – When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings, will be welcomed with open arms. It’s set for release in May via Moshi Moshi and is supported by a UK Tour (details below).
The album takes its name from a species of butterfly, the fearless Purple Emperor – which obtains nutrients from some interesting places and is more often found in southern England (the limited edition album even features purple and pink sparkle coloured vinyl). Thanks to changing temperatures, these butterflies have been spreading their wings earlier with the warming seasons, and it’s the seasons that divide and unite this release. Each side consists of five tracks corresponding to one of the four seasons – they are being released as EPs (via streaming) ahead of the full album release in May.
Tomorrow marks the release of Winter, which you can listen to in full below. Folk Radio’s Thomas Blake describes band member David Tattersall as one of the best guitarists of his generation and a clever, sad, funny lyricist in the tradition of Jonathan Richman or Darren Hayman. David shared the following on the season and the five songs that makeup Winter:
“I was born in Winter, and for me, Winter often feels like going home. I often find I write most of my songs in Winter. There’s something poetic and dreamy about the season. I love all the seasons, for different reasons, but in a personal way, Winter is perhaps my favourite. There’s a quality of light and colours at around 4pm on Winter days, purple and peach streaks in the sky, and the trees are almost maroon. There’s a blue-grey colour in the air too, and a yellowy cream. These colours are soft and I would say that most people who I speak to do not notice them at all. You could certainly say that Winter is the minor Key month. The colours that it suggests would musicallly be best reflected in the keys of A Minor or E Minor. Of the tracks on the Winter side of the album, one of them is a comedic track, about the snooker TV presenter Hazel Irvine; this is because there’s a nice feeling of being at home and watching the snooker in Winter – a prosaic reason. But the other 4 tracks all deal more in the poetic and dreamy, melancholic side of Winter, that I associate personally with being artistic and productive, and also with those beautiful Winter colours that I love so much.”
The Wave Pictures UK Tour
May 2022
20 – Glasgow – The Hug and Pint
21- Edinburgh – The Great Eastern
22 – Newcastle – The Cluny
23 – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club
24 – Bristol – The Fleece Bristol
25 – Oxford – The Bullingdon
26 – Coventry – The Box at FarGo Village
28- Portsmouth – The Wedgewood Rooms
30 – Manchester – Band on the Wall
31- London – Scala
Pre-Order When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings: https://thewavepictures.bandcamp.com/album/when-the-purple-emperor-spreads-his-wings