Boston Manor - Sundiver *Pre-Order

Coming out on September 6 th on Sharptone Records, Sundiver is Boston Manor’s fifth album and one that represents a glimmering dawn for the Blackpool five-piece. Grown from a seedbed of optimism and sobriety, the LP celebrates new beginnings, second chances and rebirth. With two members recently stepping into fatherhood, hope is baked into every note. “Datura came out of these really dark few years over the hangover of the pandemic,” Henry reflects. “I'd been struggling a lot with drinking and not taking care of myself and bad mental health and stuff. We wanted Sundiver to be the
next morning of the following day.” He explains that it feels good this time round to write through the lens of positivity. “The
themes began to emerge, of rebirth, spring, dawn, sunshine and then other elements just started to fit into that.” It was
during the making of Sundiver that Henry found out he was going to be a dad. This album is a significant one for the band.
Originally coming out of the emo and pop punk scene, they’ve explored sonics and genres throughout their career, taken
risks and achieved more than they could ever had dreamed of. They’ve grown up as Boston Manor – their lives and the
world changing around them. They’re now taking stock, at a crossroads of the band they were and the band they could
be.
While writing the album, they revisited the bands that shaped them in the late 90s and early 00s. “I was listening to the
music I loved when I was a teenager and I just thought, why don't we make music like our favourite bands?”, guitarist Mike
Cuniff remembers with a smile. “So we brought our interests to the table that way. Y2K kind of vibe. There are elements of
Deftones, there are elements of Portishead in there, some Garbage, The Cardigans.” He laughs and adds NSYNC to the
list of inspirations. From this cocktail of classics comes a dynamic and ambitious record, rich with depth, groove and more
hooks than Peter Pan’s nightmares. Lyrics that foxtrot from parallel universes to personal growth, vivid dreamscapes to
raw grief. Individually they’re single strokes full of meaning and magic. Together they’re a landscape.
Container (out Feb 15th) is the first single and it’s them at their best – impassioned and infectious. “This song is about the
stagnancy of life creeping up on you & how that can bring about change.,” Henry explains, citing Ocean Song by US band
Daughters as an inspiration.
The concept of the butterfly effect is present on Sundiver – how small actions can lead to big changes. This is no clearer
than on their second single, Sliding Doors (out April 5th). It has the golden sound of late 90s Lollapalooza rock – think
Smashing Pumpkins - rebooted with crisp 2024 production and a potent heaviness. In the lyrics Henry wonders, what if?,
pondering on what could be. The idea that there are infinite versions of you whose lives splinter off in different directions
at every decision you make. That there’s another you out there somewhere right now reading this sentence, and another
me writing it. “So much is down to chance and circumstance,” Henry says. “You might catch that train and your life totally
changes. Or you might miss it and things stay the way they are.”
Heat Me Up (out May 30 th ) is defiant and victorious, the audio equivalent of quitting your shit job and driving into the hot
summer sun with a head full of dreams. “The lyrics are about love and gratitude,” Henry shares. “Another theme on the
record is just appreciating what you have. It’s about not taking for granted the things that you've been afforded.”
There was some natural magic in the creation of Sundiver. They worked with their usual producer, Larry Hibbitt, and
engineer, Alex O’Donovan, but instead of recording in London again they ended up in the green pastures of Welwyn
Garden City. “Because Larry lives out in the countryside now, it was a way different environment and way different
experience recording this time,” Mike remembers. “That contributed a lot to the brighter sound of the record.” The daily
barbecues they had during their recording sessions imbued the process with harmony – five old friends spending quality
time together and making quality music.
However, the album is by no means one-note. Birthing this new world they’ve created wasn’t without it’s pain, and that
can be heard in the heavier moments on Sundiver. What Is Taken Will Never Be Lost is the most-stripped back on the
album, a slow rock number seasoned with the downtempo Portishead influence. The heartfelt lyrics are Henry’s way of
processing the loss of his grandfather, who died in a hospice last year(?). “It was just fucking horrible. It was always cold
when I went there and they were always trying to get rid of me. The song title, What Was Taken Can Ever Be Lost, is the

idea of his memory fading at the time because of dementia.” Henry goes onto explain that shoeboxes of photographs,
diaries and a legacy is what he’s left behind. “He lived a really rich life and it has really impacted me and my father. His
legacy is etched into the fabric of history in a very small way.” This song continues the connection between his
grandfather and the band, as his painted face is emblazoned on the cover of the very first Boston Manor EP, Driftwood.
As well as emotionally heavy themes, there’s heaviness in the music of Sundiver too. The closing song, Oil In My Blood,
descends into an intense shoegaze outro with Debbie Gough from Heriot screaming hellfire. It’s in moments like this that
the band show us aggression and fury can be as much a part of positive change as quiet introspection. The last lyrics of
the song, “It resets and starts again,” leaves us in contemplation as the final chord rings out.
Touring the US, Europe and Japan over the years makes for an impressive CV, but if you know anything about Boston
Manor you’ll know that they’re all about their hometown. Their choice to work with Blackpool-based photographer Nick
Barkworth is testament to that. They’ve been working with him since the pandemic. “He captures Blackpool in a light that
really reflects the weirdness and quirkiness of the town,” Henry says.” He's got a really good way of presenting that.” For
the Sundiver cover, Nick photographed a 30ft tall abstract glass sculpture made by the local artist John Ditchfield. A
striking and bewitching monolith that’s familiar to them but unusual to most people. “It has such kind of a gravity and
power to it,” Henry describes the sculpture which stands in a field just outside of the seaside town. “It reminds me of either
an explosion or a star or a supernova. To me it represents new life, power and radiance.” Boston Manor have got a knack
for that - connecting the otherworldly and the everyday, the stars and the streets.
They’re a band known for using their music to make bigger statements about society. This time round they’re harnessing
the uplifting power of music, and the communion it creates, as an antidote to the daily doom and isolation. “It seems like
absolute chaos out there at the moment,” Henry says. “You’ve got Gaza and Israel, you've got Russia, you've got the fact
that 40% of the world is going to have an election this year and increasingly most governments are leaning very far to the
Right. The internet is dividing everybody, people are getting poorer and more desperate. It's really, really scary.” They
considered trying to tackle the weight of it all in their music. “We could’ve written Welcome to the Neighbourhood on
steroids, where it's just absolute darkness and misery”. He’s referring to their 2018 concept album that deals with class,
inequality and the bleaker side of Blackpool. “But I think it's really important to write something that people can be
immersed in and find some sort of solace in. Somewhere they can escape to from the modern day pressures and
everything that’s going on. We’re all in this together.”