Scouting for Girls’ new tour includes Leeds date
Scouting For Girls are back to their best with their new album The Place We Used To Meet and a major UK headline tour which includes a date at Leeds O2 Academy. Scouting For Girls’ unforgettable indie-pop anthems such as She’s So Lovely, This Ain’t A Love Song and Heartbeat set them on a path to phenomenal success which included four top 10 singles, four top 10 albums, two million sales and more than a billion streams – plus four BRIT Awards and an Ivor Novello.
The Place We Used To Meet was written and recorded in the same way that they recorded their debut single She’s So Lovely in 2007.
It’s an album full of instantly memorable, life-affirming, singalong indie-pop with which they made their name, with songs that resonate with stories of longing and loss. The band still consists of its original line-up: Roy Stride, Greg Churchouse and Peter Ellard.
Roy said: “As the name suggests, it’s an album about going back to our roots and starting again.
"Falling back in love with music. Loving every aspect of the process: the recording, the writing, playing live and, most importantly, just hanging out as friends.
"There was no great plan, no overthinking beyond just writing and recording the best songs that we could.
"Heartbreaking, anthemic, fun and pop, indie and serious, anything went as long as we loved it. It’s the best collection of songs we’ve ever had, and I’ve loved every minute of making it.”
While Scouting For Girls are in their best place in years, circumstances leading up to this new album proved to be especially challenging.
After losing 18 months of touring - their favourite part of being in a band - they were eager to hit the road after Covid restrictions were lifted. Their return was the biggest party imaginable… until it wasn’t. As the months passed, Roy’s life unravelled and he realised he had to make a change and on New Year’s Eve of 2021 he sank his final drink before dedicating the start of last year to recovery.
During this process he questioned whether he would still want to play live and make music. But gradually he discovered that it completely revitalised his love for being in a band.
The trio spent more time together, the shows became a celebratory experience of reconnecting with their fans, and new songs emerged at a rapid pace.
His inspiration also continued with fresh co-writes for other artists, such as Jax Jones and Calum Scott’s top 20 hit Whistle.
Back in the studio, they worked with a variety trusted collaborators, with Roy producing many of the new songs alongside Jon Mags (Calum Scott, Kodaline) and Alex Oldroyd (Kaiser Chiefs, Seafret), while the band also wrote and produced a track alongside their new touring guitarist Nick Tsang (Ed Sheeran, Jess Glynne, Busted).
The first half of the record features the best songs they’ve written in a decade or more, while the second half flows together like a continuous suite of music. Their Leeds gig is on Thursday November 23.