Courting continue to flex their razor sharp, acerbic wit on ‘Grand National’.
Courting, just five tracks into their fledgling career, have already carved out a niche for themselves with their astute and often pointed examinations of modern British life. Paired with their explosive and often irresistible brand of upbeat Britpop-tinged indie rock, the Liverpool outfit serve as a wonderful bridge between the genre’s raucous 90s roots and more contemporary modern sounds. injecting a new sense of relevancy to the form with their witty charm and Wembley-sized hooks.
Brand new offering ‘Grand National’ sees Courting’s now signature sound and barbed lyricisms aimed at betting and more specifically horse racing. The result is a tune that is an instant Courting classic, providing more of what makes the outfit feel so unmissable and new. We had a deeper dive on the track with the outfit to find out a bit more about it.
We love your new single ‘Grand National’, could you tell us some more about it?
The idea to write Grand National just came really from how much I loved the juxtaposition of those two words together. It’s less a critique solely on horse racing and more of using something which is inherently English as a vessel to explore some of the tropes we’ve been touching on before lyrically. I wanted to take it to an exaggerated old fashioned ideal of the country — painting pictures of astroturf, chemtrails, and front lawn gossip.
What was it that spurred you on to write about horse racing and betting specifically?
I think gambling is an interesting topic, but the idea that a lot of people are very comfortable placing bets on animals that may die just for our entertainment doesn’t really sit well with me.
Could you shed some more light about the plans to film the video in a betting shop?
We originally had intent to film this one in a betting shop, but after they heard the track they said that the track was too offensive towards gambling and horse racing in general, so we had to quickly move somewhere else.
One of the trademarks of Courting up to now have been your very on-the-nose and often pointed assessments of middle England, where does this come from?
I think as artists, especially when you’re writing songs about the things you’ve seen when you’re younger – you’re always going to write a bit closer to home. I always find it’s a lot easier to write about things you really get rather than things you’re more separated from.
The track is from your debut EP of the same name, what was the process of putting it together like?
The EP came together in the first lockdown. Popshop! Was a single we’d been waiting to release and Slow Burner was an old live favourite which we reconfigured for the studio. Crass and Grand National were wrote closer to last March. We wanted to make it a very cohesive collection of songs, and something of a statement as a band. Whereas I feel as though a lot of bands just use EP’s as a way to distribute extra album cuts or to collect the early singles
‘Grand National’ is available now via Nice Swan Recordings.
Grand National EP is out April 9th.
