Following its premiere as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World on her Radio 1 show last night, Sports Team today share their anthemic new single ‘The Races’. Recorded at Livingston Studios in London and produced by longtime collaborator Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever), ‘The Races’ is built on a driving bassline, with their trademark swagger in full focus. Lyrically it continues to play with middle english characters recognisable from the band’s back catalogue, this time delving into dodgy politics and misguided patriotism.
Of the track’s beginnings, frontman Alex Rice offers: “Oli came in one morning with the opening bass idea and we’d finished the song in a morning. It was unusually easy. It’s a lot of fun to play.”
‘The Races’, a track which the band recently shot the wedding-themed video for in South London, comes hot on the heels of their debut headline tour of the US, as the band commence their biggest UK tour to date, culminating with a headline show at Kentish Town Forum in London in December 5th, capping off a breakout year.
Of the tour Rice says: “The songs are written to be a spectacle live. That’s where you’ve got to hear them, front row, with most of the parts played wrong. No one’s doing it better”
Ahead of this winter’s headline run, the band could be found supporting Pale Waves before playing their first arena shows as main support for Two Door Cinema Club and out in the US headlining their first full run across the Atlantic.
‘The Races’ is the latest track to come from the band’s as yet untitled debut album, set for release in 2020. More information on the band can be found below, with further details on the upcoming LP due soon.
UK live dates:
Nov 17th | Bristol, UK @ Thekla – SOLD OUT
Nov 18th | Norwich, UK @ Arts Centre – SOLD OUT
Nov 20th | Southampton, UK @ The Loft – SOLD OUT
Nov 21st | Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy
Nov 22nd | Tunbridge Wells, UK @ The Forum – SOLD OUT
Nov 24th | Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms – SOLD OUT
Nov 25th | Newcastle, UK @ Riverside
Nov 27th | Glasgow, UK @ King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut – SOLD OUT
Nov 28th | Leeds, UK @ The Wardrobe
Nov 29th | Liverpool, UK @ Arts Club
Dec 4th | Cambridge, UK @ The Portland Arms – SOLD OUT
Dec 5th | London, UK @ O2 Kentish Town Forum
