The fastest selling UK country act in history, The Shires have today released their brand new single ‘Guilty’. The country-pop tune is lifted off their upcoming third studio album ‘Accidentally On Purpose’ which will be released on April 20th via Decca Records.
The toe-tapping sing-a-long hit was written by the duo during their trip to the US back last year. Speaking about the new single, band member Ben Earle, says: “This song encapsulates our writing trip to Nashville back in October. Nashville really is a party town and there were parties almost every night, it was hard to turn down the invites. We were certainly Guilty of having a good time out there!! As soon as we received the demo back from our co-writer & producer Lindsay, Crissie played it as her warm up track while she got ready to go out! It always got her in the mood for a night of partying”!
While the other half of the hit duo, Crissie Rhodes, adds; “As a songwriter, you always write down any ideas that come to mind so that when you go into a writers room, you can look back for inspiration. Ben had the title “Guilty” written down and threw it out to us in the session. We all loved it and knowing the party scene of Nashville, it flowed quite easily to us all”.
Along with writing and recording their infectious new single in the Country Music capital of the world; Nashville, The Shires also recorded their new album over there and the record combines massive country-pop choruses and emotive lyrics about their whirlwind journey, relationships, and their time in America. The US country scene is increasingly taking influence from the mainstream with pop heavy hooks, which is a sound that the British duo’s new album reflects perfectly.
Speaking about their new LP, Ben and Crissie, say: “Our new album ‘Accidentally on Purpose’ is full of personal songs that really sums up the whirlwind journey we’ve been on together. From the day we met, we’ve been crazy dreamers with big plans, who really believed that Country could break into the UK mainstream. For all those dreams, we never imagined it would all happen so quickly and we’re so proud and excited to be releasing our third album.”
The new album features a track written by pop-folk superstar Ed Sheeran, a beautiful anthemic love song called ‘Stay The Night’ which was written by Ed after he met the band on a night out in Nashville.
In support of their new release the trailblazing duo will also be hitting the road this summer, performing their new music across the UK, including London’s Royal Albert Hall on 18th May.
UK Tour dates:
May 12th: Guildford G Live
May 13th: Bournemouth Pavilion
May 14th: Cardiff St. David’s Hall
May 16th: Bristol Colston Hall
May 18th: London Royal Albert Hall
May 19th: Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall
May 20th: Sheffield City Hall
May 22nd: Ipswich Regent Theatre
May 23rd: Cambridge Corn Exchange
May 24th: Oxford New Theatre
May 27th: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
May 28th: Gateshead The Sage
May 30th: Carlisle Sands Centre
May 31st: York Barbican
June 1st: Birmingham Symphony Hall
June 3rd: Stoke Victoria Hall
June 4th: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
June 5th: Llandudno Venue Cymru
June 6th: Manchester Bridgewater Hall
June 8th: Nottingham Royal Centre
June 9th: Brighton Dome
June 10th: Basingstoke The Anvil
Tickets for the tour are on sale now! Make sure you follow The Shires on Twitter @theshiresuk to keep up to date with all their latest music and tour news!
What do you think of The Shires’ new single ‘Guilty’? Let us know your thoughts over on Twitter @CelebMix.