Reading Festival 2024: Viagra Boys on new music, influencing Kings of Leon and beef with The Hives
Viagra Boys have revealed to NME that they have a new album on the way, with its release expected âmaybe next yearâ, according to frontman Sebastian Murphy.
The Swedish post-punk band met NME backstage at Reading Festival, with Murphy joined by the bandâs bassist Henrik âBenkeâ Höckert.
Viagra Boyâs previous album, 2022âs âCave Worldâ, saw them incorporate electronic elements into their sound, while its predecessor, 2021âs âWelfare Jazzâ, bore a distinct country flavour. This time, explained Murphy, the band will include âa little bit of everything, hopefullyâ.
READ MORE: Viagra Boys â âCave Worldâ review: a grimy time capsule of a truly bizarre eraHe added: âWeâre gonna see where it ends up. I think thereâs a little bit of all sorts of genres in there, hopefully â excluding maybe R&B and stuff like that.â With a laugh, he clarified: âThereâs a lot of rock.â
When NME commented that it seems the Viagra Boys sound could go anywhere, Murphy replied: âYeah, thatâs kind of the vibe we want. We want people to not really expect whatâs coming.
âAnd who knows? Maybe it does sound exactly like it has before, but in my head it doesnât. Hopefully there are new sounds in there and weâve definitely taken different approaches to songwriting.â
Höckert, describing the record, said: âItâs like the older stuff, but just a little bit better.â
In an interview earlier this year, Kings of Leon told NME that their latest recent album âCan We Please Have Funâ was inspired by post-punk bands including Viagra Boys. Informed of this, Murphy exclaimed: âWhat! No way! Thatâs insane.â
Asked if Viagra Boys are KOL fans in return, Murphy replied: âI listened to them growing up a little bit. I mean, when I was 13, 14 â they were getting huge on radio and stuff like that. I didnât know they were still making music.â
He added: âBut thatâs cool! Thatâs awesome. I canât believe that, really. I wanna hear their new album and see if it sounds like Viagra Boys.â He then imitated his bandâs signature guitar sound: âDer-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner-ner!â
Last month, it was reported that Viagra Boys had engaged in a jokey online war of words with fellow Swedish band The Hives. On Instagram, the Hives dubbed Viagra Boys âpunk rock losersâ. In response, Murphyâs band shared a clip in which they called their supposed rivals âcorporate suit rockâ.
The joke was a means of publicising their appearances at Sthlm Fields Festival, which was held on July 6. In our interview, Murphy joked, âFuck those guys!â before confirming: âI donât wanna keep going â the beef is squashed!â
View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Hives (@thehives)
Conversely, âCave Worldâ featured âBig Boyâ, a collaboration with Sleaford Mods frontman Jason Williamson. Murphy told NME that Williamson is his âspirit animal â my British spirit animalâ.
He added: âHeâs very wise and I just look up to him a lot. I loved what heâs done with his music and his life, and I love how articulate he is and how angry he is. I just love the guy.â
Murphy teased âCave Worldâ in a 2021 interview with NME, telling us that the band had recorded the album in âsix daysâ. Now, though, he confessed this was untrue: âI must have been lying, trying to flex. Definitely not. There was a lot of back and forth, but everything changed substantially along the way. The whole process was probably over a year.â
Lana Del Rey is scheduled to release her country album, âLassoâ, next month, while Post Malone released his own country album, âF-1 Trillionâ, on August 15. When NME pointed out to Viagra Boys that country music is having a moment and they were ahead of the curve with âWelfare Jazzâ, Murphy replied: âYeah, it is, right? Thatâs why we’re not doinâ it anymore!â
He then discussed his love of the genre, which was apparent in the bandâs cover of John Prineâs âIn Spite of Ourselvesâ, a collaboration with Amyl and the Sniffersâ Amy Taylor that appeared on âWelfare Jazzâ.
âIâve always been a huge country fan,â he said. âI listen to country every day. I wanted to incorporate it into our music before and then itâs like, âOh, weâre kinda: âBeen, there done that.â Weâll see â it might come back [to us] someday.
âCave Worldâ saw Murphy inhabit the personas of right-wing conspiracists as he parodied theories about medication (âTheyâre putting little creepy crawlies in the vaccines!â he exclaimed on âCreepy Crawlersâ). What, NME wondered, does that kind of method acting do to your psyche?
âI mean, itâs impossible to not be inhabited by it,â replied Murphy, âwhen itâs all over the place, everywhere. I donât know â I think it makes you stronger to [face it]. Or more depressed? I dunno! We live in a wild, wild world and I think you should just take it as it is.â
After the interview, Viagra Boys went on to headline the Festival Republic Stage â perhaps an unlikely feat for a group with such an outlandish name.
When we put this to the band, Murphy joked: âWe have a lot of older fans find out about us through strange Googling. Thatâs why thereâs so many 65-year-old fans out there.â
Follow all of the action as it happens on the NME Reading & Leeds liveblog here.
Check back here for the latest news, reviews, photos, interview and more from Reading 2024.
The post Reading Festival 2024: Viagra Boys on new music, influencing Kings of Leon and beef with The Hives appeared first on NME.
Reading Festival 2024: Viagra Boys on new music, influencing Kings of Leon and beef with The Hives
Reading Festival 2024: Viagra Boys on new music, influencing Kings of Leon and beef with The Hives
Reading Festival 2024: Viagra Boys on new music, influencing Kings of Leon and beef with The Hives
Reading Festival 2024: Viagra Boys on new music, influencing Kings of Leon and beef with The Hives
Reading Festival 2024: Viagra Boys on new music, influencing Kings of Leon and beef with The Hives
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