New Hope Club released their self-titled debut album, in February 2020, amidst the pandemic. This group, which consists of Reece Bibby, Blake Richardson and George Smith have been keeping busy by churning out new music and touring. As a result, their album peaked at number 5 on the UK Album Charts — a great feat for this British pop trio.
Well, we recently had an opportunity to talk to this iconic trio on their self-titled album, going on tours after the pandemic, collaborations with Ed Sheeran and Lorde and more! Check out our short chat below:
How does it feel to be back in action and onstage again, meeting real crowds, long after the pandemic?
Reece: It’s amazing to be back. We waited a really long time to go back on tour and I’m pretty sure we thought about it every day. To be back in a room of fans and to be able to hear them see them in person again was just amazing. It was good that after 2 years people were still waiting to come see our show and listen to our music. We got a Top 5 album in the UK and never got to tour it. This was a chance to tour the album and it felt really cool. To see our crew working behind the scenes and making the tour happen, it feels really good because it seems as though things are getting back to normal.
For your self-titled album, each of y’all had your own edition of the songs. How did that come about and what inspired that?
Blake: Our friends from The Vamps, they did something quite similar. We just thought it was a really nice way to be able to give a little bit more music to the album as obviously, the album has some songs both old and new songs so we realized that it would be a great way to add a few more songs to the fans. There was only a limited amount of songs as such so, there were no competition involved to know which edition was liked the most.
What’s your intention or message behind the song, “Give Me Time”?
Blake: “Give Me Time” was a song we wrote after we did a lot of touring on our own. It’s one of those songs that could be taken in many ways depending on how you’re listening to it. For us, it described being far away from our family and loved ones and our relationship with them, with everything being long-distanced. The style of the song was very soft and reflected a mid-90’s tune. That was something that we really wanted to achieve.
Talking about collaborations, last year you guys your dream collaborators were BTS and Paul McCartney. Do the names remain the same for the time being or are there any new artists that you’d like to collaborate with?
George: We’d still collaborate with those guys and it would be cool to see what kind of songs will get with those people. We’d also like to write with a lot of people and we’ve also realized that Ed Sheeran’s and Lorde’s albums were really cool and interesting. We’re open to collaborating with a lot of people. It’s just interesting to know how they create music and to work together with them to create the best song possible.
This album was released about a year ago. Assuming that you have recorded a few more songs since, what are your plans?
Blake: Since the pandemic, we’ve always been writing songs and new music. We performed two new songs on the tour. It was cool to know the fans’ reaction to those songs. We’re just waiting for the right moment to release our upcoming songs and hopefully, our fans would feel the same way.
Do you have any plans to get closer to your Asian fans?
George: Obviously, we would want to get back in doing a worldwide tour as soon as possible. The only issue right now is the restrictions that’s making it really difficult to do stuff like that. We’ve been doing livestream shows and that gives us a chance to figure out how we play live music. That’s a cool way to experiment.
Do you have any messages for your Asian fans, especially Malaysia?
Blake: Obviously, a huge thank you for sticking by us. It’s been a long time since we’ve been there. We are so grateful that they continue to surprise us online with their support. We’re dying to get back out there as soon as we can and we’re doing everything to do so.
