Monday
7th November sees Cardiff-based, seven-piece indie-poppers Los Campesinos! kick off the first official date of the tour for their new album, Hello Sadness, at KCLSU but Sunday 6th saw the first gig of the era at am intimate warm up show at the Camden Barfly.The new album, their fourth, hits shops on November 14th and the setlist for the tour promises to be an almost 50/50 mix of old songs and new ones. Los Camp! fans being what they are though, expect every audience member to know every word to all the new songs – this bunch are nothing if not passionate and rabidly loyal.
This gig also marked their first appearance since the departure of violinist and founder member Harriet Campesinos!. She hasn’t been replaced, meaning that her string accompaniment that lent the band so much tweeness has been replaced with extra synth and guitar, beefing up their sound and giving some older tracks a more robust strength.
Lead singer Gareth is becoming the consummate indie frontman, bantering with the crowd with his usual brand of self deprecating humour. Even now they are on their fourth album, his energy and joy isn’t at all diminished, he clearly just loves leading his band back out on stage. Kim Campesinos!, the band’s keyboardist has also settled in seamlessly since joining the band in 2009. With every show her stage presence grows and it is now unthinkable that the band existed without her.
The new material is a mixture of anthemic fist-pumpers and quieter, more introspective tracks. Some are instantly accessible modern classics, others will grow in time, but overall this does seem like their most sophisticated work yet. A band that so far have inspired cult devotion amongst the initiated deserve to take their material to a wider audience. They are beautiful. They are far from doomed.
‘Hello Sadness’ is OUT November 14th
Hello Sadness by Los Campesinos!
Tour dates…
Mon 7th Nov KCLSU London
Tue 8th Nov The Haunt Brighton
Wed 9th Nov The Globe CardiffKingdom
Thu 10th Nov Oran Mor Glasgow
Fri 11th Nov Cockpit Leeds