All We Are’s most euphoric and propulsive work to date, underpinned with a warmth that runs through everything the Liverpool-based trio do. With Providence, All We Are have created an album celebrating the universal virtues of love, loss, sex, friendship and dance. “The celebration of the positive things was our focal point with this record”, says Rich, “We could never have known what sort of world we’d be releasing this record into but our goal was always to try to bring people joy...
All We Are’s most euphoric and propulsive work to date, underpinned with a warmth that runs through everything the Liverpool-based trio do. With Providence, All We Are have created an album celebrating the universal virtues of love, loss, sex, friendship and dance. “The celebration of the positive things was our focal point with this record”, says Rich, “We could never have known what sort of world we’d be releasing this record into but our goal was always to try to bring people joy amongst the sorrow”.
Comprised of Ireland’s Richard O’Flynn (drums), Norway’s Guro Gikling (bass) and Brazil’s Luis Santos (guitar), All We Are have released two albums previously, their self-titled debut in 2015 that explored sublime late-night grooves and the psychedelia, krautrock and post-punk-informed Sunny Hills in 2017. On Providence, the band shapeshit once again.
Having previously shared the simmering sensual “L Is For Lose” and the tropical-tinged “Bad Advice” from the album, on “Not Your Man”, amidst pulsating bass (“I think the bass line is the best I’ve ever written,” Guro proclaims) and bouncing synths, the three-piece sing the refrain: “Like a pina colada, you’re not going to waste me”,charming us into their technicolour world of expansive pop.
All We Are describe the track: “‘If ‘Not Your Man’ wasn’t a song, it’d be your holiday romance: sticky, sexy, hot and you’re not going to waste it”.
Moon, who directed the video for “Not Your Man” adds: “We managed to pull off a full on socially isolated lockdown shoot right in the middle of the pandemic. It was a lot of fun but both odd and unique, as there was only one person in the building at a time and because directing via the computer brings its own challenges. You have to have this whole different level of energy to keep everyone’s spirits up, and you run into the issues that become difficult to solve without any crew. All in all a fantastic shoot and I’m chuffed with what we managed to achieve despite the circumstances. All We Are did a great job, as always.”
Having exorcised some of their collective demons about the world on Sunny Hills, All We Are took a different approach for their new record – for the first time they took time off from each other to work on other projects: “This break was much needed,” explains Luis. “Playing music outside of the band actually brought us together, helping us focus on what we do.” They came back to All We Are with a new joyful lease of life that wound itself into the music.
Recorded in Liverpool in a retired school building (O’Flynn is a property guardian) that is integral to the group; a place that gives them both space and time to go at their own pace, the album is a cascade of colour and hooks, funky basslines and electric rhythms. Where its predecessor had been clouded by anxieties, manifesting in drone-indebted guitars and a dark heaviness, Providence lands with a lighter touch aided by working with producer Dave McCracken. Their goal whilst writing was to use it to soothe your worries and make you move. Offering respite from the gloom, the album’s driving force is the power of music to heal, no matter what your beliefs or worries.