HEAVY SALAD let it all out on ‘It’s OK To Bleed’, the latest single and closing track of their upcoming debut album: ‘Cult Casual’ (out 25 September, Via Dipped in Gold Recordings). YOUTUBE || SOUNDCLOUD || BANDCAMP || SPOTIFY
Recalling the woozy lullabies of Spiritualized or Mercury Rev, ‘It’s OK To Bleed’ is an emotional, gospel-tinged folk rock song that seeks to inspire individuality, compassion and living in the moment. Following on from lead single ‘The Wish’ which received rave reviews and was championed by BBC Radio 1, BBC6 Music and Radio X, ‘It’s OK To Bleed’ is a cathartic follow-up release packed with hazy melodies and sonorous harmonies. Featuring Heavy Salad’s faithful backing singers: ‘The Priestesses’; the full flow of their transcendent gospel vocals provide an evocative and cosmic new dimension to the band’s soft psychedelic hum.
Speaking about the track, Lee Mann of Heavy Salad says: “The song is about being at peace with yourself and accepting that you can’t be strong all the time, it’s also about compassion for others and looking out for those who need help. It’s about the little things you can do to make a difference to someone’s life an recognizing that it’s ok to let it out sometimes, the song is about catharsis, allowing you to accept and move on, it’s about breathing life into existence”
In keeping with the rest of upcoming debut album Cult Casual, ‘It’s OK To Bleed’ was produced by Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys / Working Men’s Club). As the final track of the album, the song was also the very last to be recorded for it - on the day before the world came to a total pause... Formed in 2018, Heavy Salad comprise a core trio of Lee Mann (live bassist with The Moonlandingz), Rob Glennie and Allan Hutchison. Bonding over a joint interest in psychedelic horror films, with Panos Cosmatos’ cult classic ‘Mandy’ being a particular favourite, Heavy Salad loved the idea of being in a band like a psychedelic cult, albeit a cult with no rules, hence: Cult Casual! Part of the cult, the trio are now joined by Ally McBoo, Esther Maylor, Lucy Hope (The Priestesses) and Oscar Remers whose abilities for mesmeric backing vocals and general witchcraft bring their an otherworldly vibe to the Heavy Salad sound.
Set for release on 25th September through Dipped In Gold Recordings, Cult Casual is their stimulating debut release. Written at their base in East Manchester, it’s a loose concept-album-of-sorts that explores the idea of finding your own reality in the modern world. Beginning with ‘Death’, the album takes the listener backwards through the very experiences of existence. From the after-life to apocalyptic visions of the future, via hallucinogenic nights plagued with polar bears and conversations with the AI in your phone, it’s quite literally the journey of a lifetime...
“You could loosely describe Cult Casual as something of a concept LP” explains lead-singer Lee, “lyrically, it’s an exploration of the experience of modern reality, it feels like the LP exists for this exact moment in time, we can’t wait for people to hear it!”
Taking in myriad musical influences from surf-rock and free-jazz to over-driven pop and experimental rock, Heavy Salad occupy that intangible space between perceived reality and the abyss of the mind. Combining a natural penchant for oddball melodies with a shared passion for the psych pop and acid rock wanderings of the likes of The Flaming Lips, The Beatles, Super Furry Animals, Blur and QOTSA, Cult Casual is an effusive melting pot of influences and ingenuity that you need in your life.
HEAVY SALAD - ‘IT’S OK TO BLEED’ - NEW SINGLE, OUT NOW
DEBUT ALBUM - ‘CULT CASUAL’ - OUT 25 SEPT 2020, VIA DIPPED IN GOLD RECORDINGS