Great news rock fans! 7 years has passed since the release of The Automatic Shuffle and Wonderboom have made the wait worthwhile releasing their powerful new studio album: Rising Sun. The album was released exclusively on iTunes and Apple Music today.
Wonderboom are extremely excited for the release of Rising Sun and will host an album launch party at The Good Luck Bar in Johannesburg on Saturday 4 November. The rest of South Africa can see the band on tour in November and December as they hit the road for the Rising Sun Album Tour. Get all info on the Wonderboom Facebook page.
Included in the tour is a trip to Ningbo in China from 1 to 3 December and it will be the band’s first visit to the country. Wonderboom will be performing at the Ningbo Cultural Festival, which is a festival hosting bands from 13 different countries on a competitive platform. Crowd votes determine the winning band/country, which will be announced on the 3rd of December. Wonderboom will be performing on the main Saturday night line-up with key International press and media covering the event.
“Southern Light” is also the brand new single from Rising Sun released to radio today and follows previous singles “Great Escape” and “Ooh La La”, both available on the brand new Wonderboom album.
The loss of drummer Garth McLeod in 2013 was a massive shock to the band. With time taken to grieve the loss and rework the future of Wonderboom, the band found a great new addition with Jonathan Bell stepping in on drums. The Rock & Roll machine was in motion again and it’s been a cathartic and introspective journey since for the band. Die-hard fans can’t deny the sheer magical force that Wonderboom has become again. The live show is still pure power and energy!
Rising Sun captures this story in a dynamic way. The title track suggests what Wonderboom as a band feel – a new dawn. A revival of what was once regarded as an electric, live and very stimulating music experience, is here!
Cito explains why it took 7 years for this album to come out, saying “It took us a while to build up our creative momentum when Garth passed away and Jono stepped in. We felt like we were pretty much starting all over again and had to nurture our live chemistry with this new being. Having said that, the delay wasn’t calculated; it just was. Once we got our performance thing rocking again, the songs started to come. Martin and I started spending about 3 -4 days a week, writing songs and experimenting. Then, workshopping the songs with Wade and Jono, which gave the songs another killer dimension. We played all of these songs live to get the proper feedback we needed to tweak them. So, one and a half years after we started the process, we got to the point where we are happy with what we’ve got and proud to release.”
Rising Sun is a triumphant release from Wonderboom and is packed with powerful new songs. Singles such as “Great Escape” and “Ooh La La” have already been embraced with loving arms by fans and the South African music industry alike. Brand new single Southern Light is released today and other gems on the album include album opener Humans and potential singles Hell, Praying Mantis, In Place Of Something, and Shark Bite.
Wonderboom are so excited for fans to hear this album! “For the first time EVER, we took our time and were extremely meticulous with the whole production process. Sometimes we’d re-record, other times we’d just scrap, but every song on Rising Sun is meant to be there and pretty much the cream of the crop. First album with Jono on drums. I think fans will get a sense of ‘Damn, you worked hard on this record!’ The attention to detail, the energy, the musicality, the soul… It’s all in there. We had a motto for the album and that was ‘GO THERE!’ No half-arsed attempts at any song. It’s heavy, it’s beautiful, it’s epic,” comments Cito.
Wonderboom have cemented their legendary status. 21 Years in the industry, 8 albums released, headlined many major SA festivals, been nominated for 5 SAMA’s (South African Music Awards), and won a Kanna Award & People Crystal Award in 2003 for South Africa’s hottest band. They also won the South African leg of the 2004 Global Battle of the Bands & came SECOND WORLDWIDE! There can be few South African music fans that aren’t familiar with their hits, like “Never Ever”, “Jafta Rebel”, “Something Wrong”, “Green Fever”, “Africa”, “Shadows”, “Charlie”, “It’s Great to be Alive”, “Best Side”, “On The Radio” and “Karaoke Bar”.
Rising Sun adds to this impressive list as we salute SA’s favourite Rock band, Wonderboom. Wonderboom‘s brand new album is available exclusively on iTunes and Apple Music from today (the 27th of October 2017). All other digital platforms will go live with the album from Friday 3 November and the Rising Sun CD will be released on Monday 6 November, but get it first at the Wonderboom album launch at The Good Luck Bar on 4 November.
Here’s a full list of Wonderboom gigs happening in November and December 2017:
- 4 November – Official Album Launch, The Good Luck Bar, Johannesburg
- 18 November – Radium Beer Hall, Johannesburg
- 25 November – Beards, Bourbon and Bands Festival, Magaliesburg
- 1 – 3 December – Ningbo Cultural Festival – Ningbo, China
- 9 December – Jock, Nelspruit
- 22 December – Cheers Pub, Kimberley
- 23 December – C Beach, East London (with Prime Circle)
- 24 December – Knysna Yacht Club, Knysna
- 26 December – Vinyl On Main, Knysna
- 28 December – Brass Bell, Cape Town
- 29 December – Quay Four, Cape Town
- 30 December – Berties Mooring, Gordon’s Bay
- 31 December – Rumours Rock City, Johannesburg
Watch this space for regular updates in the Music News category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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