Description
“This time around there are no musical influences as such,” says Scott Hepple of his quartet’s fiery new album, Wyrd Seasons, which spans intense hard rock, psychedelia and woozy ballads, liberally peppered with memorable hooks and solos. “The songs are more inspired by the world around us. The album definitely contains our heaviest, moodiest and most introspective material to date.”
Since early 2025 the group has consisted of Scott (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Sam Taylor (guitar), Alfred Annable (bass) and Luc Hindmarch (drums). They’ve toured widely and found a distinctive sound and style in the process, emerging from a period of reverence to their key influences – Neil Young, Black Sabbath, Pentangle, Uncle Acid and others – to devise a more personal sound.
“In my opinion Wyrd Seasons is more grounded than our last album, English Mustard,” continues Scott. “We say less, but try to make every word and every note important. 70s influences can still be heard in the songwriting and the production, but there’s a slight departure from that ultra-70s sound because we’re very much in the present day at the minute.”
They recorded Wyrd Seasons on an 8-track tape machine at their studio in Newcastle over the course of the summer and autumn of 2025. The result perfectly captures their power and immediacy, although using vintage tech also has its downside: “The pinch roller disintegrated during the first session, and we had to order a new one from California before the sessions could continue…”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp7al_A5-CM
Perhaps surprisingly for an album that features a wide variety of riffs and effects, Scott says that “Even though ‘Kailash’ is our heaviest song to date, the only song written on an electric guitar is Already Dead – I wrote Stranger on an Omnichord.” Put on the spot and asked to pick one song to exemplify the record, he says: “No Time is my favourite song I’ve written to date.”
He emphasises the material’s freshness and spontaneity: “I got wasted one evening and woke up the next morning to find that I’d written My New Friend in full with almost no recollection, and I recorded Whale Fall in one take in the middle of the night. In fact, most of the songs were written between 2 and 4 in the morning, and I recommend listening to the album while walking or driving in a lit suburban area at night.”
Scott Hepple and the Sun Band are playing a handful of dates in Europe in October, including one in Morocco (as detailed below), before touring Europe with Kadavar in November and December. An early 2027 European headline tour is currently being finalised.
My New Friend
Kailash
Already Dead
No Time
Stranger
Take A Ride
Whale Fall
The Great Comedown
Ophelia
Wyrd Seasons
