Carrying a reputation for crafting tragically relatable storylines through their music, The Wombats have martyred themselves once again on their upcoming album Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life. The three-piece band’s fourth studio album comes after the ten-year anniversary of their first album, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation. Leading with the first single “Lemon to a Knife Fight,” the collection of songs on the new album offers a rollercoaster of emotions in the form of alt-pop bangers. The band’s drummer Dan Haggis says that when creating Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life, the band made a decision to return to a more classic sound and embrace being a three-piece band. Being fans of Air and Daft Punk, Haggis says the band experimented with synths more heavily on their last couple of albums but were ready to explore a more “back to the basics” sound.
With frontman Matt Murphy living in Los Angeles, bassist Tord Øverland Knudsen enjoying the arrival of a new baby in Oslo and Haggis in London, the band worked remotely on the majority of the album. “It was bit of a transitional period but we met up in Oslo about four times and just hung out and made songs from nothing, basically,” Haggis says of the process. Although the process may have been different for the guys, the outcome has already garnered them a spot supporting Weezer and The Pixies on their co-headlining tour this summer. “It’s like our 16-year-old selves’ dream,” Haggis says of the tour. “It’ll be a bit of a lesson watching them perform and seeing what the secret is to their longevity,” he says. “Although, we’re doing pretty okay going on 13 years,” he adds with a laugh.
Since their 2003 formation in Liverpool, the band has offered listeners hits like “Moving to New York,” “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” and most recently, “Cheetah Tongue.”
“As with most things in life, the more you do it, the duller it gets, I suppose,” Haggis suggests. “But, music is one of those things that doesn’t really happen with. As soon as you get on stage and see people dancing, you realize it means quite a lot to people, and us.”
Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life is due out February 9 but beyond the singles already released, listeners can gain an earful just from the title alone. “Inevitably, the people you love the most and admire and think are beautiful can end up hurting you or wrecking things for you,” Haggis explains. “It’s sad but it also doesn’t change anything. Live for the moment, still admire and love those people but keep your wits about you that it might all go to shit,” he says with a laugh. Although this sentiment harbors dark undertones, being able to capture a feeling of euphoria within tragedy is what gives The Wombats their distinct style.
