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Cape Town – Seven years have passed since the release of The Automatic Shuffle and WONDERboom have made the wait worthwhile releasing their new studio album, Rising Sun.
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 the info here.
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 last week 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.
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: "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."
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’s brand new album Rising Sun is available exclusively on iTunes and Apple Music. 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.
Rising Sun album launch info:
Saturday, 4 November 2017
Venue: The Good Luck Bar, 1 Fox Street, Ferreirastown, Johannesburg
Time: 20:00
Entrance Fee: R50 entrance OR buy the album at R125 and free entrance
Catch WONDERboom live on the Rising Sun album tour:
4 November – Official Album Launch at The Good Luck Bar
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
27 December – Venue TBC
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
For more info like the band's Facebook page or follow them on Twitter and Instagram.
