Having spent the Summer of 2017 in the studio writing their third album, The Milk are now back on the road for a series of dates including a Manchester gig at Night People.
In November 2014, The Milk joined forces with underground- soul label Wah Wah 45s to tease the first taste of their matured new sound. Having spent months developing a classic-soul sensibility with production don and “The Bees” mastermind Paul Butler, the band released 100, one-sided white label 7”s of Deliver Me. They sold out in just a few hours.
That Christmas, as the band returned to Butler’s medieval-barn studio on the Isle of Wight to complete the recording of ‘Favourite Worry’, interest was quickly growing. Though there were nerves all round about how people would react to their deviation from the pop sensibilities of debut album ‘Tales From The Thames Delta’, band and label remained faithful that this important collection of songs would be recognized as something truly special.
The music drew strong influences from the likes of Bobby Womack, Isaac Hayes, Bill Withers and the Isley Brothers (you can hear an incredible likeness to Ron Isley in lead singer Rick Nunn’s vocals). But more than that, the songwriting was, without doubt, a match for so much of that classic era’s legendary output. By the following Christmas, Favourite Worry had been named one of the BBC Radio 6Music albums of the year, nominated by Fun Lovin’ Criminal Huey Morgan. The band had sold out shows at The Dome, Oslo and Scala in London and completed a packed UK tour.
More recently The Milk have been back in the studio, spending the summer of 2017 recording their latest album. “We’ve been in the studio writing our 3rd album throughout summer 2017. With two albums behind us, which we’re immensely proud of, the powerful references to the Isley Brothers, Ray Charles, Bill Withers and more, that ran through Favourite Worry in particular, have slipped a little more into the background. Now our own experiences and the combined lessons learned from the likes of The Nextmen and Paul Butler, our previous producers, are taking the forefront and allowing us to carve a sound unique to us. We feel we’re now taking the next natural step in our pursuit of modern progressive soul music. And we are impatient to begin sharing it all in 2018.” they explain.
When do The Milk headline at Night People Manchester?
The Milk headline at Night People on Saturday 19 May.