After a couple of years touring festivals playing the hits of yore Ride have done the decent thing and gone into the studio to record new material, the first results of which you can hear above. ‘Charm Assault’ is taken from the band’s forthcoming fifth album, to be released on Wichita Records later this year.
Andy Bell of Ride explains that the track, which could have fitted in nicely on Going Blank Again, has a political bent. "’Charm Assault’ is a pretty straightforward expression of frustration and disgust at the people who currently run our country," he says. "The tour in 2015 was a good way of reminding us what we were good at in the first place and ‘Charm Assault’ feels like a natural continuation from our peak. When we started writing together again we tried to imagine we’d kept on making music all this time, and this was just the latest one."
The track and album have been produced by long-time Ride fan Erol Alkan, who said "Nowhere and Going Blank Again were big records for me and my friends when we were growing up. I’ve vaguely known Andy for a few years through his brother-in-law but we didn’t actually meet until a couple of years back. I had an email from them asking if I’d like to collaborate with the band, and once I’d heard the demos, I was 100% in. Andy’s very well versed in electronic music, so we had a common bond in that as well as alternative music. The new music contains all the great elements you want from Ride – Great songs, loud guitars, beautiful harmonies, powerful rhythms."
