Good Cop Bad Cop
Friday, April 05, 20:00Good Cop Bad Cop return with Welcome to the Marble Zone on February 2 nd 2024 on Count To Ten Records via Townsend Music
Listen and watch the video for new single ‘Does It Get Any Easier?’
here: https://slinky.to/DIGAE
“I’m deep down in the Marble Zone, on my last life” confesses Joe Carnall Jnr as the synth-infused curtain lifts on Good Cop Bad Cop’s second album Welcome To The Marble Zone - the stunning follow up to their eponymous 2019 LP. Good Cop Bad Cop is the brainchild of Joe Carnall Jnr - a long-time darling of the Sheffield music scene. Carnall rose to prominence as the frontman of 00s indie band Milburn who have enjoyed an incredible resurgence since their return six years ago. They are still the only artist to play their hometown O2 Academy on four consecutive nights, totting up an incredible 9,000 ticket sales.
However, Carnall has always been one to look forward instead of back. In 2018 he began writing what would become Good Cop Bad Cop’s debut offering, which was
recorded in Los Angeles, USA. Although 2024’s follow-up was put together closer to home, the guitars were left in their cases for the most part, with Carnall and producer Gold Teeth (Andy Nicholson) opting to further push the synth and hip- hop undertones. The result is something that somehow sounds like both then and now.
When asked about the palette of the record, Carnall explains: "Over the past few years, I’ve been intrigued by the soundclash of guitars and electronic music; I was listening to a lot of New Order at the time of writing Welcome to the Marble Zone. Apart from the obvious ‘Hooky’ bass lines and 808-inspired drum sounds, I became a little obsessed with Bernard Sumner’s vocal melodies as well as his delivery. You can hear this on tracks like ‘Running Away With The Circus’. There are also other influences in there. Dig around and you’ll find Talking Heads, Gorillaz, Baxter Drury, LCD Soundsystem, Tame Impala and even a bit of Kraftwerk.’
Asked about Gold Teeth’s role on Welcome to the Marble Zone, Carnall stated:
"Trust is really important when you’re being creative - especially when it’s just the two of you. I’ve known Gold Teeth for a long time and pretty much gave him free rein to mess around. I wanted the record to feel like he was moulding it instead of trying to recreate my laptop demos."
You can hear the producer’s hip-hop leanings and playful edits throughout; they serve to set Welcome to the Marble Zone apart from the first album and evolve the Good Cop Bad Cop sound. The pair spent a couple of weeks in Nicholson’s home studio, now dubbed The Green Room. Carnall played "everything that doesn’t involve using sticks" whilst his producer steered the ship. Live drums were flown in and chopped up as and when they could find someone to play them.
The songwriting is the product of someone at the peak of their powers. Carnall has come a long way since penning catchy yet relatively one-dimensional tunes about "nowt much really" in the early 00s. This collection is a diary of a thirty- something man who has gone from knowing everything to knowing nothing at all:
"I’ve come to see songwriting as a form of therapy; it took me a long time to realise, but it’s the thing in my life which keeps me on an even keel and gives me a buzz. Others jump out of planes; I write a satisfying chorus. Each to their own I suppose... Welcome to the Marble Zone is the most personal thing I’ve ever written. It maps
my life over the past three years: fatherhood, memories, songwriting, teaching, death... and more fatherhood."
Carnall is almost reluctant to tell you that he’s also a secondary school History teacher who once turned down a place at Cambridge University to sign his first record contract (something his dad had to do on his behalf as he was too young at the time!). Welcome to the Marble Zone is the by-product of someone who doesn’t want to write songs… but needs to. Notable achievements to date: 700,000+ streams of ‘Silk & Leather’ from debut album Sold Out UK tour Feature and spot plays on XFM (2019) Spot plays on BBC6 Music 2019 to present - support from Chris Hawkins Sharp Shooter EP No. 2 in the UK vinyl chart - October 2019 Joe Carnall Jnr & Friends Christmas show sold over 15,000 tickets since 2010.
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