British heavy rock darlings Green Lung–they already have had coveted a ‘Track of the Week’ spot at the Guardian and repeated plays on Daniel P. Carter’s Radio One Rock–are positioning for their meteoric rise off island. The group–featuring Tom Templar (vocals), Scott Masson (guitar), Joseph Ghast (bass), Matt Wiseman (drums), John Wright (organ)–auspiciously garnered such praise and support on debut EP Free the Witch (2018) and then on their self-released debut LP Woodland Rites (2019). The buzz went straight to the major labels looking for their next rock sensation, but true to form Green Lung picked from the soil instead of the sky by signing to Finnish indie Svart Records, who reissued Woodland Rites in deluxe form last year.
The group are now readying for the release of their Svart Records debut called Black Harvest. Supported by a massive production courtesy of Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad), a John Davis mastering job (at Metropolis [Led Zeppelin, Royal Blood]), and adorned with Richard Wells’ (Doctor Who, Dracula, Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth) striking artwork, Black Harvest is legend with its British (Queen to Atomic Rooster) and American (Boston, Lynyrd Skynyrd) hard-working heavy rock disposition. Green Lung’s premiere Black Harvest comes in the form of lead single “Leaders of the Blind,” a weighty grooved lay replete catchy riffs, tasty organ runs, and Templar’s irresistible vocal lines. Truly, we’ve forgotten how to rock, but that’s gonna change dramatically with Green Lung’s poignant cross-Atlantic thrust.
Say Green Lung: “‘Leaders of the Blind’ is the most directly political song we’ve written to date. The world events of the past few years definitely had a bearing on the lyrical content for Black Harvest, from the pandemic to the climate crisis, and this song was borne out of frustration with the media and political classes in Britain, and their increasingly Surkov-esque manipulation of the general public. With John joining the band on keys midway through recording Woodland Rites, we wanted to incorporate organ more integrally on this album, hence the Jon Lord-style licks and insistent stabbing verse riff, and Scott’s solo is the result of playing a bunch of Priest covers in the practice room. It’s intended as a rabble-rouser and we can’t wait to finally play it live.”
