Ahead of the release of their latest album Maps, King Harvest and The Weight are set to perform at Manchester’s The Castle on 19 June.
Due for release on June 20, and with a national tour in support, Maps is the debut album by Halifax-born musician Ben Adey – better known by his nom-de-plume King Harvest and The Weight. Charged on an undercurrent of eclectic revivalism; an ecstatic communion of face-melting riffage and a feverish delivery, Adey describes Maps as “a high energy, good times record. It covers so many bases, it plays like the greatest lost mixtape – a dashboard discovery for a hot summer’s day!”
With references that revisit the formative sounds of youth, King Harvest and The Weight dabble in the positively endless pool of 60s pop and 70s rock, enlivened by rich, warming inflections of pre-punk intensity. Ben continues: “We unashamedly wanted to echo those beautiful, bygone days, when young people would lie back and breathe-in albums like Jailbreak, Physical Graffiti, and A Day at the Races.”
“Before the album I spent a lot of time reassessing what music meant to me and why I wanted to write and record music – you know; ‘what’s this all about?’ I wanted to get back to the thing that had excited me in the first place: the strongest of songs, delivered with adrenaline and style. Maps is the embodiment of that mission statement.”
Maps was recorded during the second half of 2015 by Steve Royston-Smith, “in the darkest depths of West Yorkshire”, Ben grins. “Everything was done very traditionally – tracked live wherever possible, with a minimum of overdubs.”
King Harvest and The Weight are Ben Adey (Vocals/Bass), Justin Edley (Drums) and Olly Smith (Guitar/Vocals)
King Harvest and The Weight perform at Manchester’s The Castle on 19 June 2016.
