On the radar: Song of Return

Signing a record deal isn't always the surefire gateway to success it might seem.

When things are going well the label are your best friends, offering to buy you sweets and take you to the cinema, and when things are less than rosy they drop you for the cool kid who just moved in around the corner.

The excellent and now defunct Glasgow electro outfit Union of Knives know only too well the fickle nature of the band-label relationship.

“We were doing okay I guess,” explains singer and multi-instrumentalist Craig Grant. “Over in LA land recording with a big shot producer. Then when we came back to Scotland, the label were concerned about the lack of ‘sure fire number one hit singles’. So they asked us to write some more demos with a view to going back to LA to finish them. Whilst all this was happening, they were losing money so they decided they couldn't send us back over to finish the tracks and also that they wanted to drop us.”

Song of Return - Shackles


After taking roughly a year out Grant decided it was time to make music again:

“I was bored out of my senses having not played live in ages so decided I wanted to get a band together to make all this new music happen live. The new stuff we had been recording had the feel of a different band anyway and as we had lost a few members to babies and weddings etc, we decided to form a brand new band.”

And so Song of Return was born. The outfit is split in two, with Grant and his ex Union of Knives bandmate Chris Gordon writing the music and the live band, which includes members of Admiral Fallow (formerly Brother Louis Collective), and Take a Worm for a Walk Week.

The new songs have an unsettlingly dark sound, complimented by the light vocal tone and falsetto harmonies Grant and Gordon sing over them. If you liked Union of Knives you won't be disappointed by Song of Return: moody, intense electro with ethereal male vocals.

Song of Return - Risk And Writhing


One thing is still up for debate though:

"I should probably say that we might change the name of the band from 'Song of Return' to something else in the next few months," Grant explains. “We're not quite sure what to yet, so sorry in advance for the mix up!”

So, go along to one of the gigs and give a warm welcome to Song of Return, or rather, [insert new band name here].

Words: Aimi Gold

Catch Song of Return live at The Mill, Oran Mor, Glasgow on 25 Mar, and at their official launch at Stereo, Glasgow on 8 May.