Courteeners Release New Single ‘Sweet Surrender’ feat. Brooke Combe

Words: Dan Smith

Did you know that they used to be called THE COURTEENERS. Thank god they dropped the the, the name alone is much better.

The Mancunians have been going a long while now, forming back in 2006 and releasing their acclaimed album ‘St. Jude’ in 2008.

They have since released five more studio albums: ‘Falcon’, ‘Anna’, ‘Concrete Love’, ‘Mapping the Rendezvous’ and ‘More. Again. Forever’.

The band are about to commence on a new era with their 7th album ‘Pink Cactus Café’ coming 25th October.

So far we have had three singles from the upcoming album: ‘Solitude of the Night Bus’ the albums title track ‘Pink Cactus Café’, and today we have been treated to ‘Sweet Surrender’ featuring Brooke Combe.

I’ll be honest, ‘Solitude of the Night Bus’ did not instantly blow me out of the water. It is an okay song and I think I ranked it a 6/10 on release, and I’d probably stick with that.

However, I have been playing ‘Pink Cactus Café’ all week. This is what I want from Courteeners. It’s easy listening, it has a catchy melody and a chorus that deep rooted in your brain.

So when I woke up this morning and saw there is yet another single to get stuck into, I whacked it on straight away. This is the first of three tracks on the album which have official featured artists, but I think you’d be forgiven for not even noticing in this track.

I love Brooke, and her debut record was excellent, but she has not been utilised in this track at all.

The song is completely different to the other two singles which have been released. This is more of a retro, Primal Scream-esque track compared to the electro-pop tracks we already have

I honestly don’t know what to think about this one. It hasn’t blown me away like ‘Pink Cactus Café’ did. I like the instrumental elements. I’ve never heard Courteeners do something like this before, they are clearly trying to branch out and have obviously been given more creative freedom on the back of ‘More. Again. Forever’ which was well documented as being restrictive on the band.

I am still excited for the rest of the record, and appreciate the creativity, but this one isn’t really for me. 6/10.