Blood Red Shoes get back on a firm footing

Brighton alt-rock duo Blood Red Shoes have been active for over seventeen years – a collaboration that has yielded Laura-May Carter and Steven Ansell five studio albums, an independent record label and a series of international tours.  The proximity of their working relationship has also, at times, weighed on the pair, as was documented on 2019’s Get Tragic LP.

It was a tension that arose from relentless touring and a single-minded devotion to their project but now – with their sixth record set for release in the near future – the partnership is stronger and more fruitful than ever.

And while the duo hail from Sussex, Laura-May’s own roots are very much in these parts – because she’s Irish-born and has a host of relatives in Galway.

“My whole family are Irish,” Laura explains.

“My auntie Phyllis lives in Galway and my cousins on my mum’s side. I love Galway so much – we’ve played a few times in the Róisín Dubh.

“When we first started, we played in Ireland a lot and then I don’t know what happened. Maybe it just didn’t kick off, but I’ve been dying to go back. It’s really important to me. We’ve had a bit of press in Ireland recently and I’m really happy about that because I felt like we were invisible there and I’m really proud to be Irish. It’s been really good.”

That new album, Ghosts on Tape, is out on Friday, January 14. Thirteen moody, slightly gothic tracks – it is an album that has been gathering dust through Covid having been finished in Laura’s LA home before everything shut down.

For performers as prolific as Laura and Steve, the break from touring presented a chance to pursue other creative avenues.

Laura-May started a podcast, Never Meet Your Idols, with her best friend in LA and Steve threw himself into production and collaborations with electronic artists. It facilitated a more relaxed writing environment for the two and, in what they described as an ‘off-year’, Blood Red Shoes still managed to release a summer EP.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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