Courting announce their second studio album, New Last Name

When recording New Last Name, Courting collaborated in the studio with indie heroes Gary and Ryan Jarman of The Cribs, who worked closely with the band on production duties.

New Last Name is an album as adventurous thematically as it is sonically – but as its title suggests, it hints at new beginnings. “It’s a theatrical play within an album,” explains frontman Sean Murphy O’Neill. “There’s a lot going on. It can be simply enjoyed as an album, but there are characters, acts, stage directions etc. The listeners can decide on the narrative themselves, but we want them to get lost in it.”

Going on to speak about the single, Murphy O’Neill says, “We wanted to write a song with a plot twist, a song that could be described as 'an epic'. Lamenting a past love, our protagonist returns to “the city”, and remembers, misremembers, and forgets just about everything that has happened beforehand. Drawing a blank, they pray to be wished away to a simpler time.”

Gary Jarman of The Cribs talks about working with Courting in the studio: "We had really enjoyed their debut LP, Guitar Music, - the knowing title and the freedom with which they were prepared to sabotage their melodies with noise really spoke to us. But underneath all of that restless experimentalism and layers of chaos it was clear that there was some very sophisticated songwriting going on. So we were really excited to see how they approached their follow up LP. The recording of a second album can be the most consequential time in an artists career - either the moment that their ability catches up with their enthusiasm and the real magic happens, or conversely the struggle to follow up on that first flush of inspiration (the dreaded sophomore slump). We knew as soon as we heard the demos that Courting were taking the step up to the next level."

Going on to speak about the album, Murphy O’Neill says, “I’ll admit that New Last Name isn’t really a play. Whilst it IS tied together by a narrative thread – it’s actually a collection of our most contained pop songs, and strangest experiments sat side by side. New Last Name is unrestrained and chaotic. At the same time, it is more focused and detail-oriented than anything we’ve done before. New Last Name is a study in contradictions, and it’s the best damn play south of the north pole.”

The band have also announced an extensive run of EU / UK headline tour dates for February, April, and May 2024, including dates in Brighton, Nottingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Madrid and more. They will headline Dingwalls, London on 9 February.