Any W H Lung news is cause for cel­e­bra­tion here at Gourmet Gigs. And there’s plen­ty to get stuck into here with the band’s new track, video and some UK appear­ances too – although we might have to draw a line at a flight to the States for their upcom­ing US tour. 

The new track is called High Pres­sure Days, out on Melod­ic, and we’d rec­om­mend two lis­tens. The first time in order to get lost in the clev­er­ly con­struct­ed video, and the sec­ond to con­cen­trate on the song. Front man Joseph Evans plays the harassed busi­ness man in a delight­ful­ly ’90s office set-up com­plete with Filo­fax and ash­tray, and dressed in a big suit, David Byrne style. His rage and frus­tra­tion recall that of Michael Dou­glas, lash­ing out at soci­ety in Falling Down (back in 1993). And the start, as Jo bounces off fel­low pedes­tri­ans on his way to the office, a gen­tle nod to The Verve’s 1997 video.

Of the con­cept, Jo Evans and direc­tor Craig Mclaugh­lin say: ”The video fol­lows the cycli­cal white-col­lar night­mare of Mr. Every­man-office-work­er, as he nav­i­gates through high pres­sure days. His life is as stress­ful as it is banal until an ethe­re­al fig­ure on his com­put­er screen offers him a chance for psy­che­del­ic salvation.”

Orig­i­nal­ly released in 1979 by San Fran­cis­co synth-punk The Units, High Pres­sure Days is a sat­is­fy­ing homage that fits well in the band’s out­put. It’s got W H Lung’s clas­sic synth heavy, bass-dri­ven sound, with the vocals of Joseph Evans and Han­nah Peace.

W H Lung have just announced their first U.S tour and a spe­cial one-off fundrais­er gig in Sal­ford’s Isling­ton Mill on 14th Sep­tem­ber. And their third full-length LP is soon to follow.

26th August – Kranken­haus Fes­ti­val, Cum­bria
8th Sep­tem­ber – Down at the Abbey Fes­ti­val, Read­ing
14th Sep­tem­ber – Par­ti­san Fundrais­er w/ The Orielles, Dee Rae, Adjustments 

Tick­ets here for Fundrais­er
23rd Sep­tem­ber – Float Along, Sheffield
USA Tour 2023
28th Sep­tem­ber – New York, Le Pois­son Rouge
29th Sep­tem­ber – Philadel­phia, Milk­boy
3rd Octo­ber – Detroit, Lager House
4th Octo­ber – Chica­go, Emp­ty Bot­tle
5th Octo­ber – Mil­wau­kee, Cac­tus Club
8th Octo­ber – Seat­tle, Bar­boza
9th Octo­ber – San Fran­sis­co, Rick­shaw Stop
12th Octo­ber – Los Ange­les, The Echo

W H Lung, High Pres­sure Days, Melod­ic.