Hot Milk confirm debut album and UK Headline tour for autumn 2023
Manchester’s Hot Milk have announced a headline tour this Autumn, in support of their debut album “A Call to the Void” set for release 25th August 2023 on Music For Nations.
The tour will take in six shows across the UK including the O2 Kentish Town Forum, London for their biggest headline show to date. Support comes from Witch Fever and Modern Error.
"You won’t wanna look away from this horror show." Han and Jim. "After the album that nearly killed us, here’s the tour that brings us back to life for our biggest shows ever. Buzzin to bring you our life’s work so far, the only aim is to leave you with one of the best nights of your life."
Here at LiveWire, we saw Hot Milk early in 2022 for the first time when they headed to Rock City in Nottingham supporting Pale Waves. We were blown away by their set and we’re really looking forward to seeing them in either Nottingham of Bristol again on this tour. The raw energy they have sets the room on fire and brings their music to life. A great night well worth experiencing !
The current single, Party on my Deathbed premiered on Clara Amfo’s BBC1 Radio1 show and is now on the C-list at Radio 1. The track fizzes with life but is ultimately powered by a sense of reckless abandon. Shifting upwards through sonic gears to deliver an open-armed and iconoclastic party anthem that pays no attention to the idea of tomorrow, residing firmly and resolutely in the here and now.
A track forged in the fiery debauchery of backstage areas and late-night bars it combines the band’s love for electronic beats, synthesised melodies and hard riffs, resulting in a sound that echoes The Prodigy as much as it does Paramore.
Co-vocalist Han Mee deviously welcomes “lovers of the night, haters of the daylight, come one come all” to unite behind the track that firmly encourages freak flags to fly freely, and invites all listeners to adopt a norm of non-compliance, a dedication to deeds of defiance and to be comfortable in the unconventional. Commenting further on the track, lead singer Han Mee says “We can’t be helped, we just wanna squeeze out every morsel of this life and being a bit of a wreckhead has come hand in hand with the pursuit of fun. Can’t be stopped, don’t wanna be stopped, we’re sorry but we’re not, maybe we’re just lost. Who cares, life’s about connection n getting off the fuckin internet n losing ur mind on the streets of Manny and finding it again on your way home.”
For some, it might feel like a long time coming but Hot Milk always knew that when the time came to make their debut album, they had to be ready for it. It will be their loudest statement yet of who they are and what they stand for, an opportunity to show the world what they are made of.
Tracks on the debut album walk on a tightrope between the humorous and the serious, brimming with what might be called positive nihilism. They’re not so much finding the light in the dark as they are laughing because if they don’t, they’ll cry.
The first single Horror Show, boisterously ushered in a new era of Hot Milk, one that is bolder, brasher, and more impactful than ever before. Premiering on Radio 1’s Future Artist show Jack Saunders commented that “The odds are pitted against this band, it’s not often a traditional emo breaks through, but Hot Milk have fought the whole entire way to make their mark, find their way into your top tens, become a favourite for you, and Horror Show’s the best yet.”
The band have blossomed over the course of three self-produced EPs, this constant stream of releases has meant that Hot Milk were never away from the spotlight – or the stages they call home. Their rise kept accelerating, taking them to stadium support slots with Foo Fighters, the main stages of some of the best festivals Globally, an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel in the US to tours with bands like Pale Waves and their own headline sold-out shows to over 50 million streams of the EPs alone. Crucially, however, they were giving themselves space to find themselves as artists.
The band recorded the album between Manchester, Los Angeles and Stockholm with the bands very own Jim Shaw at the Producing helm for the majority of the record, much like all previous releases. An element that has become so important to the band and allowing them to control just exactly what they want to be as artists.
A Call to the Void is the English translation of the French phrase l’appel du vide, referring to the brain’s trick of spotting opportunities to die. It’s the eerie jolt that is felt when you stand waiting for a train and the thought that you could jump, and end your life in a heartbeat, intrudes in your head. It’s that brief moment of being reminded of the fragility of existence.
The more alt-pop inspired Bloodstream, meanwhile, was made for creating moments on the big stages the band have always aspired to reach. The most important thing for the band, however, is that these songs are written to scream from the speakers of the stage, and for their refrains to be screamed back at them by the adoring, tight-knit community they’ve built. “Live is where I’m happiest, live is where it’s home,” says Han. “We wrote songs with the intention of people going off, making you feel good, opening the pit up, letting go, crying, getting on your mate’s shoulders. It’s church for us.”
A CALL TO THE VOID - album tracklisting
WELCOME TO THE…
HORROR SHOW
BLOODSTREAM
PARTY ON MY DEATHBED
ALICE COOPER’S POOL HOUSE
ZONED OUT
OVER YOUR DEAD BODY
MIGRAINE
BREATHING UNDERWATER
AMPHETAMINE (Feat. Julian Comeau of Loveless)
FORGET ME NOT
