Neon Waltz release an fizzing anthem to staying power with ‘Send Me Down’

Neon Waltz, the ‘against all odds’ survivors of melodic alt-rock, return with resolute new single…

Send Me Down

With no end of determination and an enduring gift for songcraft and introspective lyricism, the unbowed pioneers of 2010’s melodic alt-rock, Neon Waltz return with their first new music in three years, Send Me Down – OUT NOW. Reflecting on the dizzying peaks and deceptions of major label dealings, tour van repairs in dark lay byes, lock downs, lost band members and their undimmed love for playing the whole, crazy game together, the John O’Groats four-piece punch through doubt and release a relentless anthem to staying power.

Immersed in broadening sonic hues beneath the almost permanently light summer skies of northern Scotland, and the corresponding round-the-clock darkness of winter, the band’s second album, Honey Now, was released in September 2023. Where their arrival, all the way back in 2016, had been signalled with future, festival sundown classics such as Dreamers, Neon Waltz took a left turn into singing about “fears, loss and finding yourself” following the 2017 release of their bright debut album, Strange Hymns.

Optimism has returned beneath the veil of realism, as Send Me Down’s bass-driven, frenetic and typically hook-orientated journey unfolds, with frontman and lyricist Jordan Shearer initially putting pen to paper in a closed Edinburgh plant shop. Alone in a makeshift, temporary studio and lost to thoughts of a decade in a band, the years of music, joy and regrets tumbling over each other, the songwriter (and Neon Waltz’s resident film maker) faced finality before imagining a whole new future.

“The whole song got written in one day and I think I even sent it to the boys that night, which is unlike me. I normally stew on songs,” says Shearer. “It’s about the fear of drawing a line under Neon Waltz but not knowing what I would do with my time. Being just a guy who ‘used to be in that band’ but ‘Send Me Down’ is me coming to the realisation that I’m not gonna give it up just because it’s been a rough journey. You can’t just get everything you want in life easily. It would be worthless without the struggle.”

Neon Waltz’s efforts over distance to connect with their fans has been well documented, including national media interviews that covered their distinct position as ‘Britain’s most northerly band’. Moderate estimates of tours pushing their dilapidated van over distances of over 2,000 miles, with the travel time by road from John O’Groats to London easily reaching more than 12 hours, were tempered by evidence of the fun the then six-piece hadon what amounted to long, occasionally debauched working holidays.

The 2026 version of Neon Waltz unites Shearer, Darren Coghill (drums), Jamie Swanson(guitar) and Kevin Swanson (guitar) as the reduced but resolute incarnation of the band that took on those road miles. Founding members, and equal driving forces behind the band’s early rise and the cult-classic masterpiece of Strange Hymns, Calvin Wilson (bass) and Liam Whittles (keyboards), departed the band as permanent members in between albums.

Strange Hymns, which turns ten next summer, landed to critical praise (“Left-field melodic beauty” – Record Collector) yet their aspirations and inspirations were quickly revealed as too diverse to be contained within the constraints of traditional indie rock. Having told NME in an early interview that artists including The National, The Band, The Walkmen and Grizzly Bear played loudest on their own playlists, it came as no surprise that singles in between records, such as Friends Who Lost Control and Stranger Things, explored sound and structure beyond verse-chorus-verse anthems.

The extended wait for their second album, a wrought journey of extended distances, growing up, changing relationships and funding, came to an end with Honey Now. Sparkling singles such as A Million People, and a now rare, full UK & Ireland Tour to support the album, it ensured that their decade long efforts to connect, and remain connected to their fans, will never have been wasted.

Find Neon Waltz online at:

https://www.neonwaltz.com/
https://www.facebook.com/neonwaltz/
https://x.com/neonwaltz