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Love Amongst Ruin – Home
Love Amongst Ruin – former drummer, co-songwriter and rock’n’roll lifeblood of Placebo; Steve Hewitt’s new band – release their brand new single ‘Home’ on 25th October and will be hitting the road for a UK tour this Autumn.
Love Amongst Ruin is a multi-faceted hard rock outfit with the crunch of a stone age queen, the crossover appeal of a parkful of linkins and the melodicism of the hardiest fighter of foos. Drop in twists of New Order/Depeche Mode electro-twangle, Can/Kasabian motorika, Cure atmospherics and hardcore Metallica riffage and you’ve got a bounce-back of potentially Gary Barlow proportions on your hands.
Steve’s resurgence was inevitable: having served time at the stool of such diverse acts as The Boo Radleys, grit-rockers Breed, baggy chart stars K-Klass and a ten year stint in Placebo – with whom he tasted huge global success, sharing the journey from post-Britpop indie hype band to multi-million selling international superstars – the recording studio is Hewitt’s natural habitat.
Love Amongst Ruin decamped to Bath Moles studio for two four-week recording sessions over the summer of 2008 which Steve found, “very exhilarating, I really enjoyed it. I dealt with it really well. I had to make sure it was something I could live with afterwards. I was trying to be true to myself.”
Was he worried about taking up singing duties? “It’s another hurdle. As soon as I got in the vocal booth at Moles, then I realised there was gonna be a point I was gonna have to get onstage and do this. I was nervous then!”
The record they emerged with was a succinct yet wide-reaching beast. ‘Love Song’ finds counterpoint in the distorted vocals and brutal rock pummel of ‘Running’ or ‘Blood & Earth’ and the cinematic Robert Smith shimmerscapes of ‘Away From Me’ and ‘Heaven & Hell’. Elsewhere ‘Truth’ sounds like Nine Inch Nails covering Sigur Ros, the funk-punk ‘Home’ could’ve dropped, snarling and snivelling, off Kasabian’s ‘West Ryder Pauper Asylum’ and the first two singles ‘So Sad (Fade)’ and ‘Alone’ are worthy of QOTSA and New Order respectively. As rock’n’roll all-rounders go, this is a veritable Flintoff of an album.
Joining Steve Hewitt in Love Amongst Ruin are Donald Ross Skinner (co producer / guitarist), Steve Hove (lead guitar), Laurie Ross (cello, keys and percussion), Teresa Morini (bass) and Keith York (drums).
The eponymous debut album is out now with a special bonus edition due for release early 2011.
UK TOUR DATES
29th Oct Joiners Southampton
30th Oct Garage London
31st Oct Slade Rooms Wolverhampton
2nd Nov
Cathouse Glasgow
3rd Nov
Club Academy Manchester
4th Nov Cockpit Leeds
5th Nov Rock City Basement Nottingham
7th Nov Stiff Kitten Belfast
8th Nov Academy 2 Dublin
9th Dec Kerrang! Xmas Party Birmingham