Chosen by Monk

We’re defiantly #RunninWithTheWildOnes with this latest offering from the former Biters frontman and his band of rock ‘n’ roll troubadours, with this latest sample from their upcoming new EP, which see them take us to a #TroubledParadise later in the Autumn:

On the new single, Tuk Smith shares:

This ain’t your typical love song. If you like ’em soaked in melodrama than this ones for you. Sometimes, I think of my songs as characters in scenes of novels or movies. Trying to tie together storytelling-esque lyrics with big anthemic choruses has really been what my pulse has been on the last few years. It’s a challenge but I love it.

Tuk Smith is the kind of rock ’n’ roll ambassador you didn’t think existed anymore. Punk maverick from rural Georgia, Biters frontman, producer and solo artist, he’s seen the best and worst of a music industry in constant flux. By turns it’s left him critically acclaimed, poised for stadiums, dropped, burned out, back in the game and beloved by those for whom rock is still everything. Now based in Nashville, and with his own label Gypsy Rose Records, he creates from a more real place than most.

I want to do something that means something to people, because a lot of shit nowadays is so disposable and so plastic. I just don’t connect with that. I’d like to do things that impact people positively. It’s a weird time on the planet, so to have songs about hope, but not be cheesy about it, it’s something I think we need with songwriting. That’s the kind of music I want to hear.

Again, there’s that dichotomy he speaks of:

Rock ’n’ roll is essentially the illusion of not giving a fuck, right? Like, you know Axl Rose was doing sit-ups and jump rope, and Paul Stanley was on a cardio machine, and they come out and act like it just happens. The point is I sit at that piano many hours, working on this stuff.

  • ‘Troubled Paradise‘ will be released on 16 October.
  • Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts support Dank Jones at Camden Underworld on Saturday 29 November and then play Planet Rockstock on Sunday 30 November.