WIRRAL band Sundowners have returned this month with the release of their third album Pulling Back The Night.

Now comprising of original members Fiona Skelly and Niamh Rowe, the duo’s latest long player sees them collaborate with Paul Weller and The Coral

After the release of Sundowners album the band’s members went off to work on separate projects with Niamh and Fiona doing backing vocal work with The Coral, Lightning Seeds and Blossoms.

But feeling the loss of not doing their own music after years of writing and performing together they jumped at the opportunity to get writing again.

Written and recorded in Wirral, Liverpool and Surrey the album has been mixed by The Coral’s James Skelly, but the famous guests don’t end there.

 

The album features two tracks co-written with Weller, titled Night Watcher and A Thousand Doors, alongside further tracks recorded with The Jam legend and his drummer Steve Pilgrim. The Coral’s Nick Power shares credits on I’m Not The One and Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Craddock joins on guitars. Skelly, meanwhile, takes a co-writing and performing position on Wild Sisters, while his bandmate, the multi-instrumentalist Paul Molloy, appears on five tracks out of ten on the album.

“Working with other artists have given us the opportunity to explore different avenues sonically and push our songwriting into new places,” said the pair.

“With this new sound we’re excited to perform it live and show our new direction.”

Some of the tracks are inspired by Niamh and Fiona’s friendship and growing together as artists, while some are folk inspired tales including Night Watcher which tells the story of a sailor’s widow’s house on the New Brighton promenade.

“The references for this album include Jackson Browne, Shangri Las, Rolling Stones, Mapache, Drug Dealer, Weyes Blood, Kacy and Clayton and Marlon Williams,” they add. “While the film Easy Rider has continuously been an inspiration to us musically and visually.”

Pulling Back The Night is out now. Sundowners play Phase One in Liverpool on Thursday, May 26. Tickets from: seetickets.com