With just days to go until the release of their third album Lust for Life, Or: ‘How To Thread The Needle And Come Out The Other Side To Tell The Story’, Courting have shared its final preview, ‘Namcy’.
The track follows previous singles ‘Pause At You’ and ‘After You’, offering another sharp turn in the Scouse band’s evolving sound.
Balancing playful energy with a looming sense of unease, ‘Namcy’ captures the rush of infatuation while hinting at the broader tensions of Lust for Life…. Bouncy guitars and a pulsating four-on-the-floor beat propel the track forward, mirroring its tug-of-war between euphoric devotion and the creeping weight of disillusionment.
Lyrically, frontman Sean Murphy-O’Neill weaves in everything from Absolute Beginners-era Bowie to the fleeting nature of a ‘French Exit’.
“‘Namcy’ is designed to be very hopeful, a stark contrast to the edges of the album,” he explains. “It is straight set: a linear storyline with made-up words. Sometimes, I think it’s important to put aside the need to be clever and get lost in something a bit more nostalgic, slightly unrealistic, very pretty.”
While unmistakably a Courting song,’Namcy’ thrives on the contradictions that define Lust for Life…: hook-driven yet intricate, chaotic yet precise, immediate yet layered with meaning. As the final teaser before the full album arrives on 14th March, it offers a last glimpse into the record’s exploration of love, longing, and inevitable unraveling.
A band on the move
The release of Lust for Life… marks another milestone in a whirlwind year for Courting. Hot off the back of their second album New Last Name, the band played the main stage at Reading & Leeds, embarked on their first U.S. tour, and quietly put together their third record.
“We’ve hit expectations but also subverted them,” Murphy-O’Neill reflects. “It does feel like an end to something, but I’m not really sure what. It’s like everything we’ve done so far has culminated in this album.”
Blurring the lines between indie rock, hyperpop, and dance-punk, Lust for Life… spans everything from the rave-like intensity of “Stealth Rollback” to the pop-leaning melodies of “Eleven Sent (This Time).”
The two-part title track brings the band’s sonic ambitions to new heights, opening with eerie minimalism before exploding into a relentless climax. “It’s about a credit card scam,” Murphy-O’Neill says. “It sounds silly, but there’s something really touching about it.”
UK tour dates
To celebrate the album’s release, Courting kick off a UK tour at Leeds’ Dark Arts Festival before heading out for headline shows throughout March and April:
- 15th March – Leeds – Dark Arts at Belgrave Music Hall
- 31st March – Newcastle, The Grove
- 1st April – Glasgow – SWG3 (Warehouse)
- 3rd April – Nottingham – The Bodega
- 4th April – Manchester – Gorilla
- 5th April – Sheffield – Yellow Arch Studio
- 7th April – Bristol – Thekla
- 8th April – Birmingham – Mama Roux’s
- 9th April – London – Oslo
Lust for Life, Or: ‘How To Thread The Needle And Come Out The Other Side To Tell The Story’ is out 14th March via Lower Third.
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