Nineties indie band reunite for first new album in FOUR years – after ‘painful’ break up and legal battle
INDIE 90s band Ride have confirmed they’re back in action and ready to release their seventh album – 36 years since they first formed.
The on/off ‘shoegaze’ band first formed in 1988 but split in 1996, before reuniting in 2015 and starting things afresh.
During their height, they celebrated album success with songs including Leave Them All Behind, and their albums Nowhere and Carnival of Light.
By the time the band split they’d cemented themselves as pioneers of British music thanks to their alternative rock sound.
Now, they’re ready to release their new album, Interplay, and put their troubled past behind them.
Speaking to The New Cue, co-vocalists and guitarists Mark Gardener and Andy Bell spoke about what they believe is ‘their best record in years’ after personal and professional legal troubles.
“I felt that we’d achieved something really great, certain tracks for me really surpassed stuff we’ve done before,” Gardener explained.
“Certain tracks were also a kind of therapy, a liberation from a dark period that preceded it, i.e the lockdown and also we were going through a whole horrible, ugly litigation thing with an old manager.”
“It was definitely a triumph over a lot of adversity that had gone down,” he added. “I think it could have almost threatened to end the band as well but we stuck at it, it wasn’t always easy at times but we came through and it came good.”
The pair admitted the band ‘imploded’ following a string of artistic differences between them back in 96.
Bell would later join Oasis as their bassist, while the rest of the group – completed by drummer Laurence “Loz” Colbert and bassist Steve Queralt – would go on to their own personal projects.
However, after being reconnected in the early 2000s, the seeds were set for them to eventually reunite.
When asked what the record says about the state of the band in 2024, Bell declared: “It says survival, it’s a survivor’s record. It shows the drive we have to keep going.
“Sometimes it’s not so much about pushing musical boundaries, it’s more just making a record. That was the victory.”
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