The Vamps return with a killer new track called – ‘Married In Vegas‘. In an unpredictable 2020, this is the song that fans of the band needed. I can tell you that it is everything I hoped for.
The blend of stellar production and infectious groove serves as the backbone of this newest addition to my “summer playlist”. The instrumentation of ‘Married In Vegas’ gives me all of those 80’s vibes that have been re-worked into a modern sound. The drums are cleverly mixed to go in and out of lo-fi & hi-fi and when combined with the slightest fuzz it takes the listener to another level.
The song was created remotely in lockdown by lead singer Brad Simpson with producer Lostboy (Dua Lipa, Rita Ora, Anne-Marie). Simpson’s vocals soar high as he holds those notes that bring attention to his dynamic vocal. They also happen to be some of the best swaggy vox so far in 2020.
The scuzzed up, sky-scraping banger is the first off their upcoming album, Cherry Blossom, which is due out October 16th, 2020 and is their most personal and fully-formed album to date.
The Vamps, aka Brad Simpson, Connor Ball, Tristan Evans and James McVey, had never really had the chance to be bored before 2020 struck. Since their platinum-selling debut album, Meet The Vamps, crashed into the UK charts at number 2 in 2014, the band have been holding onto a dream-like rush of albums (four in total, including 2017’s chart-topping Night & Day (Night Edition), featuring the Matoma-assisted global smash “All Night” which certified Gold in the US), singles (eight UK Top 40 hits including five top 10s), and world tours (they’re the first and only band to headline London’s O2 Arena five years in a row).
Having been on the treadmill of album, tour, album-recorded-on-tour, another tour, they fell back into the old routine and wrote half an album quickly 18 months ago. Then, last summer, unhappy with the results of those early sessions, they booked some AirBnbs and just hung out and started jamming together. This time gave the band the space to meticulously plan exactly what they wanted the album to be and what they wanted to say. “We ended scrapping all of the first batch of songs and starting again,” McVey says. From there Cherry Blossom was born, a title that reflects the theme of rebirth that runs throughout.
Earlier this year, the band turned in what they thought would be their completed fifth studio album, with singles just left to be decided on. They knew they had a strong collection of bangers and ballads that told the story of a band re-born, but they weren’t entirely certain about which song should properly mark the start of The Vamps Part 2. “On the day we handed the album in I went on a Zoom call with Lostboy” explains Brad. “We had a few beers and then four hours later Married in Vegas was birthed.” James adds: “Brad FaceTimed me and he was like ‘I’ve just written this song!’ I love moments like that because even when you think something’s done it can still change at the last minute.” They jumped on a zoom with Lostboy the next morning to finish the song and the race to be Cherry Blossom’s lead single was won by a brand-new song.
In the space of just six years The Vamps have morphed from bright-eyed and bushy-tailed boyband with instruments into a proper fully-fledged pop band crafting arena-sized hits. On Cherry Blossom, the musicality that’s occasionally been lost in frantic release schedules and world tours and award shows has been given the time to properly, well, blossom. This isn’t a vehicle for pop’s current crop of in demand songwriters and producers, this is a Vamps-lead project that’s made all the more impressive by the fact it was honed and finessed during lockdown. “We’d be lying if we said we didn’t want it to go out into the world and be received positively,” says Simpson of their hopes for the album, “but ultimately, we love it so much, and that feeling of self-fulfilment is so exciting. These are songs that really touch on parts of our lives.”
Based on this newest single from the band, I think we are in for a treat when the full drops in October. Until then – enjoy this groove!
-Tommy Marz
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