Arab Strap release the third single from forthcoming album ‘As Days Get Dark’.

‘Here Comes Comus!’ – released via Rock Action – follows up ‘The Turning of Our Bones‘ which came as a 7” vinyl release, and ‘Compersion Pt. 1‘.

Due out March 5th, the 11 track release is the duo’s first long-player in 16 years, since 2005’s ‘The Last Romance’.

The new track is an ode to the debauched nights out that Aidan in particular is missing in current times. “It’s a song about the god of nocturnal excess and my inability to ever refuse him,” the vocalist admits. “It takes place in a pub, a club, and city alleyways, all the places I’d hoped we’d be able to enjoy again by now – but it’s been so long since I’ve had a big night out that listening to it now seems almost nostalgic.

“He still pops round to see me at home now and again, but I know he’s holding back and planning for the future, and one day soon we’ll dance again.”

The video for ‘Here Comes Comus!’ contains with a warning, for “violence and content which some viewers may find disturbing.”

Director Bryan M. Ferguson said: “When I first heard Aidan’s lyrics on the track, my mind was quickly flung into a murky pit of complete debauchery and I really wanted the video to be a story of excess to match not just the lyrics but the whole mythology of Comus being the rebellious god of festivity who pretty much represents anarchy and chaos.”

He adds: “I felt the video needed to explore these themes of overindulgence much like the protagonist. I wanted to make the viewer feel dirty and maybe even disgusted at their own enjoyment of the imagery.”

How well this reflects on ‘As Days Get Dark’s 11 tracks – produced by Paul Savage – remains to be seen.

“It’s about hopelessness and darkness,” says Aidan Moffat of the pair’s seventh studio album. “But in a fun way,” he adds.

Moffat makes it clear that there is no attempt to “recapture the ‘90s,” but instead to create a distinctly new album, with new tools, sounds and a forward moving sense of exploration. “This album feels like its own new thing to me,” he says. “It’s definitely Arab Strap, but an older and wiser one, and quite probably a better one.”

“We’ve had enough distance from our earlier work to reappraise and dissect the good and bad elements of what we did,” says Malcolm Middleton. “Not many bands get to do this, so it’s great to split up.”

“We’re still doing what we always do,” Moffat interjects: “Malcolm gives me some guitar parts then I’ll f*ck about with them and put some drum machines and words over the top.”

As Middleton concludes: “There’s no point getting back together to release mediocrity.”

‘As Days Get Dark’ album tracklisting:
1. The Turning of Our Bones
2. Another Clockwork Day
3. Compersion Pt. 1
4. Bluebird
5. Kebabylon
6. Tears on Tour
7. Here Comes Comus!
8. Fable of the Urban Fox
9. I Was Once a Weak Man
10. Sleeper
11. Just Enough

Arab Strap autumn 2021 UK & Irish tour dates:

4 September @ Manchester Academy 2
5 September @ Dublin Vicar St.
6 September @ Birmingham The Mill
7 September @ Bristol SWX
8 September @ London Electric Ballroom
9 September @ Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Boiler Shop
10 September @ Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom

‘As Days Get Dark’ is available to pre-order now. More at arabstrap.scot.