The Snuts have announced their new single ‘Gloria’, and explained to NME how it marks a new chapter for the band and the reasons behind their split from their record label.
The new track is the band’s first new music since 2022’s ‘Burn The Empire’ and, as frontman Jack Cochrane told NME, marks a vital new milestone in the band’s history – as they venture away from their longtime record label and seek new ways to reconnect with the indie scene.
“It’s been one of my favourite tracks that we’ve done to date,” said Cochrane of venturing outside of his comfort zone with ‘Gloria’, and harnessing a more optimistic message than he’s used to. “What I tried to do was create this classic love song – just celebrate the happy things that come in relationships, you know?”
“In music nowadays, there are so many heartbreak songs, but certainly with the music that I love — the golden oldies and stuff —they’re all super pure love songs,” he added. “I wanted to really try and capture the light and the beauty in that mundane, ordinary side of being in a relationship.”
Not only are The Snuts looking to capture a new sound with their upcoming work, they’re also looking beyond that, and seeking a new dynamic entirely for the band.
This marks the Scots’ first new music since parting ways with longtime label Parlophone, and the first to be shared as part of their own recently-unveiled brand, made alongside The Orchard: Happy Artist Records. According to the frontman, this decision was inspired by a desire to be true to themselves, and grasp “total creative freedom” over their music in a way unlike ever before.
“We’re really grateful for our experience and being picked up as a young band and, signing to a major label, the opportunities that come with that creatively, but it was getting to a point where we just wanted to be ourselves completely,” he told NME. “We’re just taking full control. That’s what we’re trying to do. And I think that’s something you’re gonna be able to hear on this record.”
He continued: “It’s all to have total creative freedom over what we’re writing. What we’re trying to say. What we’re trying to do. How we promote the music. Who it’s for. I think it’s gonna be an exciting, pure version of what we’re trying to do.”
While remaining tight-lipped when it comes to revealing any specific details for the new album — only teasing us with the promise that it will mark a new creative chapter for the band — given Cochrane’s refreshingly honest outlook on the current music industry, it seems fans can expect a more unfiltered and experimental approach from The Snuts going forward.
“I think, inside that system [of being signed to a major label], there was a lot of pressure to be anything but yourself,” he admitted, later adding that the name of their own label was inspired after a label head told him. “There’s nothing worse than a happy artist”.
“The more that you’re being asked to push and push and push into that space where promoting your music exists now, [the more] you start to really feel that your mental health can be affected by that. It’s something I see all across the board.”
He added: “There’s a definite expectation to go along with the trend of how you should be making music and how you should be putting it out. In the future, we’d love to try and set an example to young bands that don’t feel like they have a place inside the algorithm as such. That feel that they have to be something they’re not to succeed in this game”
Currently The Snuts — comprised of Cochrane, Callum ‘29’ Wilson, Joe McGillveray and Jordan ‘Joko’ Mackay — are set to embark on a series of live performances around the UK. This includes sets at Reading & Leeds festival this summer (August 25 & 27), as well as a slot supporting Courtneers in Manchester on June 9.
A performance at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend is also lined up, and set to take place later this week (May 27).
These upcoming UK gigs, Cochrane hinted, are something the four-piece consider to be an opportunity to rekindle their DIY roots, and reconnect with their fans in a more meaningful way than before.
“We’ve always been a really kind of a grassroots band — even when we’re on a major label,” he explained. “It’s always very DIY – very, very fan-oriented. The music always went hand in hand with the gigs and the gigs were always about having that opportunity to share what we do with as many people as possible in that live environment.
“So going forward, it’s gonna be a lot more community driven.”
As for the future of The Snuts, outside of their upcoming third full-length album, the band are also eager to keep the UK indie scene thriving, and provide a level of support for emerging talent.
“I think it comes back to that word ‘community’,” said Cochrane. “You stand to see a lot of that with these alternate acts especially, bands from some of the smaller cities and towns — that sense of community is something that really is at the forefront. It does sound cheesy, but it is the reality of fans being engaged with the music, and not being engaged with a trend.”
He continued: “It can be easy to under-appreciate that when it’s right in front of you. So I think it’s beautiful, the amount of success that some of these independent acts are having on the charts. It’s really inspiring for young acts”. He also went on to highlight the particular success of fellow indie artists The Lottery Winners, who recently scored the Number One spot with their album ‘Anxiety Replacement Therapy’.
As for new acts that have caught the band’s eye, he specifically highlights the thriving alternative scene underway in his native Scotland — particular the work of emerging Scottish singer Terra Kin, who recently made it to the final of the BBC’s Music Introducing Scottish Act of the Year.
“We’ll always try to fly the flag here — but there are so many great, great acts coming out,” he added. “There’s just so, so much talent in this genre [because] the genre in Scotland is so varied, you know? There’s so much acceptance for those doing exciting music. It’s a really exciting time.”
The Snuts are set to play two back-to-back appearances at SWG3 in Glasgow (July 28 and 29) – marking their biggest headline shows to date – alongside a busy summer of festival and headline dates. Find remaining tickets to all of their upcoming shows here.