We’re currently trapped in the age of the wannabe tastemaker, an endless scroll of dolts and bolts pretending to know what’s up and how to get down. But every now and then a real one who’s proven indelible worth time after time comes forth to set things straight. So when it was revealed that Alan McGee’s new label Creation23 signed a young band from London, by way of Ireland, called The Clockworks, attention became mandatory. And with a listen to the quartet’s rousing new single “Feels So Real”, attention quickly becomes deserved.
The gritty track marks The Clockworks first taste of new music this year after a string of 2020 singles, and it’s a delectable blend that calls back McGee’s ambitious Creation heyday with a rawness and swagger of the current crop of British post-punk bands. “Feels So Real” is both the tune you always loved and the one you need right now.
“Basically it’s a journey through the city to meet someone, seeing all the good, bad and ugly of the city: The manipulative advertising, the needles on the floor, police sirens, a queue hoping to find love in a nightclub and so on,” The Clockworks tell Vanyaland. “All of this stuff makes the city what it is, and makes life what it is. That’s the reality underpinning the ideal. And that’s what feels real.”
They add: “It ends with a crack of sunlight hitting the persons face and the ‘me’ character cracking a smile. The drums, bass and rhythm guitar are the feeling of rapture or excitement, the lead guitar is the detail on the way, and the lyrics are the stream of consciousness thoughts as ‘I’ walk through the city.”
“Feels So Real” feels so good. Crank it below as you canvas the city under your feet and in front of your next move.