Hard-Fi have announced that they’ve completed their first album in 14 years.
- READ MORE: Hard-Fi: “‘Stars of CCTV’ seems more relevant now than it did back in 2005”
Taking to social media on Friday (November 21), frontman Richard Archer was joined in the pub by record producer Wolsey White (‘Stars of CCTV, ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’), and told fans they were celebrating finishing the fourth Hard-Fi album. “It’s only taken 14 years,” he joked. “We’ve just finished.”
Clarifying that it hadn’t taken the Staines indie rockers a full 14 years, he said: “That’s not true. We only started earlier this year, but it’s done, so we’re having a quick pint.
“And,” he added, “on a slightly more reflective note, also cheers to Mani. That’s very sad news.” It follows news of legendary bassist Mani – of Stone Roses and formerly Primal Scream – passing away on Thursday (November 20), triggering moving tributes from across the music world.
As for the new record, Archer said they hoped to be playing it to fans soon and shared news of a potential Q&A where they could answer questions about its creation. “Anyway, that’s coming next year – fourth album. Can you believe it? I can’t. It’s done. It’s in the bag. So anyway, we’ll see you soon.”
It comes after the band marked their 20th anniversary with a deluxe reissue of their ‘Stars Of CCTV’ earlier this year. The 2005 record topped the UK charts when it was first released, reached triple platinum and earned Hard-Fi a Mercury Music Prize nomination.
Speaking to NME around the time of their reformation in 2023, Archer looked back at the debut release and said: “‘Stars of CCTV’ seems more relevant now than it did back in 2005, almost. A lot of the subjects are more prescient now perhaps, so, it’s just trying to figure out what is it we want to say, and sonically what do we want to be doing? We’re trying lots of different things out to see what resonates.”
“When we wrote ‘Stars Of CCTV’, even though the subjects were talking about what was happening, it wasn’t really as on purpose. It was just talking about our lives and when we were growing up, writing about we knew and trying to make a point about it in some ways. We want to do what feels good and not worry too much, like we did on album one.
“We just want to enjoy the process and not be pressured into making the new ‘Hard To Beat’.”
