Drunk Tank Pink, all about isolation and internal conflict. And then COVID happened.
Charlie Steen remembers it well. He and his bandmates were in the luxe surroundings of La Frette Studios, a 19th Century mansion-turned-recording facility outside of Paris, ten days into recording their second album, alongside prolific producer James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Simian Mobile Disco). “I remember [guitarist] Sean [Coyle-Smith] looking at the news on his phone,” Steen recalls. “It was talking about this coronavirus in China. And we didn’t really even think about it at the time.”
Like everyone else, Shame had to grapple with plans upended and an uncertain future. Once restrictions lifted, they created a string of imaginative music videos, released monthly throughout autumn; showcased many of the new songs in a live performance shot at London’s Brixton Electric; and played a secret, socially-distanced gig to support their home base, Brixton’s The Windmill.