Dirty Circus moves with the times

The indie-rockers, who triumphantly returned after a decade’s absence with a sold-out show at The Old Courts last year, have written half a dozen new tracks showing a typically diverse range of influences.

The new-look group, which is now a four-piece made up of singer Chris Binns, guitarist Stephen Ahern, bassist Jon Hollingsworth and drummer Ryan Whittle, hopes to showcase the songs it has been working on at Strangeways Studios in Manchester early this year.

The band was renowned for its wide-ranging tastes in music, incorporating everything from hip-hop to electronica alongside indie and rock, so it should come as little surprise that the new songs are typically eclectic.

Frontman Chris said: “We’ve written about five songs and we’re reworking an old one called Dropped.

“It was always a bit of a problem song for us so we’ve freshened it up.

“We’ve always tried to evolve and not stay the same and with being away so long we’ve grown up a bit and our tastes have changed again. It’s a big melting pot and it makes the songs quite special.

“Some of the drum patterns are really different to what we had back in the day and these songs definitely move the band on.

“One has some acid house influences in the basslines and then I’ve found some gospel-type vocals to use.

“It’s all still got that Dirty Circus feel about it, though, and it’s got that raw edge we have live. In the past we had synths and drum machines and I think we sounded a bit over-produced.

“We love working at the studio, it’s in a garage and it’s a really good environment.”

Having played at Wigan promotion company Lupine’s festival Gatheringn the Woods last year Dirty Circus returns to the live arena with gigs at The Old Courts and Manchester’s Night and Day Cafe as well as a date in Leigh, with the group hoping to appear in Liverpool and at festivals.

For more information follow the band on Twitter @DIRTY_CIRCUS