The Act: MATES OF STATE

The Release: 'YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE IT'

The Format: FIVE-TRACK CD / DOWNLOAD EP

The Release Date: JUNE 15TH 2015

The Label: FIERCE PANDA

The Tracklisting:
1. 'STARING CONTEST'
2. 'BEAUTIFUL KIDS'
3. 'I WANT TO RUN'
4. 'GONNA GET IT'
5. 'SIDES OF BOXES'

The Truth: Much like London buses MATES OF STATE take their time, but when they rock up they rock up en masse: nine years since they last played live in the UK and four years since their last album the gently revered and long-time married Connecticut-based exuberant indie-synth-pop duo of Kori Gardner (vocals, organ, piano and occasional guitar) and Jason Hammel (vocals, drums, percussion and occasional synthesiser) have announced a flurry of European activity including the release of a brand new five-track EP called 'You're Going To Make It'. This new batch of tunes is Mates Of State in its purest form, fizzing with razor-sharp harmonies, shimmering new wave synth melodies and lyrics that speak to both personal and universal concerns.

The 'You're Going To Make It' EP follows hot on the glittery heels of the recent digital reissue of three previous albums and the springtime release of a new compilation on download and CD. That Mates Of State compilation is called 'Greats' which, rather than spanning their lengthy career, very much focuses on the past decade by bringing together various vivacious highlights of the three fierce panda reissues, those albums being 'Mountaintops' (originally released in 2011), 'Re-Arrange Us' (2008) and 'Bring It Back' (2006).

This is the first time 'Re-Arrange Us' and 'Mountaintops' - Mates Of State's fifth and seventh albums respectively - have ever been officially available in the UK and Europe. And according to Jason Hammel, we should make the most of these long playing treats, because the ways in which people consume their music are a'changing: "I don't like it, but the long play album format is probably dead," he muses. "Now we just want the hits - 'don't bother me with filler; get me your best songs straightaway'..."

'You're Going To Make It' then is nothing but choice cuts; five anthemic and emotionally rich songs which are the cream of the songwriting crop, tunes that wriggle into your every waking hour like the earworms they are. On 'Beautiful Kids' the band speaks of how a sense of loneliness pervades, even though we are connected to one another 24/7 thanks to modern technology. Or as Hammel puts it: "We all just want to be seen, but we won't look up from our screens so that we can be seen." 'Gonna Get It' and 'I Want To Run' build off the same inspiring notion of the EP's title, encouraging both themselves and their fans to keep striving no matter what the odds. And fist-pumping opener 'Staring Contest' speaks to that delicious ache of schoolyard crushes and youthful love.

It's not just the manner in which Mates Of State is planning to release their music from hereon which is evolving, but also how the band will be presenting them on their tours of the U.S. and Europe. "We're focusing more on performance as a whole and not being stuck behind our instruments," says Hammel. "We're coming to the front of the stage for some songs with Kori playing drums and me playing keys, mixing up the performances in new and exciting ways." The band is also exploring another new creative avenue this year with the release of 'The Rumperbutts', a feature film that Hammel and Gardner both acted in and composed the score for and will hit U.S. screens on May 22nd. Oh, and did we say that Mates Of State will be heading to the UK and Europe in late summer for their first shows over here since touring with We Are Scientists way back in 2006? Well we very much have now…