The Roadside Bandits Project - The Roadside Bandits Project (2020)

Following the release of their debut single Sombre Circus ft. Nell Bryden, which received critical acclaim from journalists & DJs around the globe, West London music collective The Roadside Bandits Project now come with My Own Lies ft. Gang of Four vocalist John Sterry & alongside this single, they release their eponymously named album The Roadside Bandits Project.

A co-write between project main-man Santi Arribas & John Sterry, My Own Lies starts with an ominous arpeggiated analogue synth before a blues flavoured groove kicks in. While Arribas delivers on the guitars, bass & programming front, drums on the track are from Jon Finnigan (Gang of Four, Ian Gillan, Julian Perretta) & recorded at London’s Beauchamp Studios (the home of recently passed & good friend of Arribas, Gang of Four’s Andy Gill). Meanwhile Jamiroquai keyboard player Matt Johnson provides electric piano & synths. Mixing was done at Arribas’ studio The Mixing Factory deep in the heart of West London’s Ladbroke Grove.

Lyrically Arribas says of the track “My Own Lies is told from the perspective of a politician whose lack of understanding of key issues makes him lie compulsively to the public, in order to achieve any objective & always end on a manufactured positive note. Reflecting on the current political climate & how policy making is made to be understood, it’s like the running of a nation is now done via uplifting presentations”.

The accompanying album release sees Arribas taking his acute sense of social justice and sociological views on the world, and expressing them in a collection of soundscapes. Key musical influences shine through on each piece, for instance on the Cooder-esque opening track Dawn with its arresting acoustic slide playing being juxtaposed with the album’s closing track Dusk, and its more electric delta-blues flavour. On the track Borders, a trad Mexican/Tex-Mex intro turns into a darker & heavier blues structure, which reflects the immigrant & Narcos activities on the US-Mexican border, while on Landfill, with its free structure & darkish tone, Arribas paints an aural picture of the devastation left behind by conflict. Debut single Sombre Circus, featuring a poignant vocal performance from Nell Bryden, expands on the Mexican border issue & “Trump’s America”, while the tracks Solace, with it’s hip-hop tinged beat & melodic hooks and Don’t Be No Fool, featuring Arribas on vocals & lyrically likening the rich & political classes to “bandits”, all enhance the appeal of the album, opening it up to a wider audience.

The Roadside Bandits Project is the brainchild of Santi Arribas whose career in music has spanned record production through to club/venue sound design & more. His creative influences include classic guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Johnson & BB King, as well as the blues & psychedelic genres as a whole. On the visual front, Arribas cites Magritte as a point of inspiration for the surrealist imagery on My Own Lies artwork. Please follow on your preferred social media platform for updates.