“Ceremony” By The Joy Hotel: Exploring Hope, Regret, And Love On Debut Album

Glasgow septet The Joy Hotel are today sharing ‘Old Man’s Eyes’, the third single to be taken from their forthcoming debut album Ceremony, out July 19th via SO Recordings. ‘Old Man’s Eyes’ follows surging lead single ‘Jeremiah‘ and the intimate balladry of ‘Black Balloon‘. This time the band pulls from the brightest corners of the album, ‘Old Man’s Eyes‘ coursing with buoyant and electric energy that sees them contemplating their future selves’ reaction to the here and now. Vocalist Emme Woods says about the song:

“Old Man’s Eyes is such a fun one to play. It’s a high energy opener to the second half of the album. Thematically the lyrics discuss old age and the perspective it might bring. In the simplest terms it’s ourselves imagining how we might look back at where we are now when we’re nearing the end of our lives. It’s intended to be hopeful and to allow room for accepting mistakes as part of the experience of being alive.”

Newly signed to SO Recordings and with a debut album proper in hand, The Joy Hotel have become a word-of-mouth success story in the Scottish DIY scene, and have since taken their live show across the UK and Europe, playing festivals including Hidden Door, Doune the Rabbit Hole, Connect, TRNSMT, Twisterella, Latitude, Sound City and The Great Escape.

The band spent eleven days at Rockfield, the legendary studio in Monmouth, Wales, recording live-to-tape. When they left, they had a sound. It is often contradictory, in that it combines the songwriting sensibilities of pop and country with arrangements reminiscent of the psychedelic scene of the 60s, six-part vocal harmonies with elements of noise rock, beautiful balladry with a sense of humour, and a cinematic quality. The result of those eleven days is debut album Ceremony, a record that searches for the profound in the seemingly routine, and reaches out with arms wide open to wring celebration out of each moment.

Ceremony will be accompanied by a short film documenting the creation of the album called ‘Come The Ringing Bell’.

Continuing about the album, vocalist Luke Boyce says: “Ceremony is twelve songs strung together to form one continuous piece of music. In our minds it’s the soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist. We spent two weeks at Rockfield Studios in Wales tracking it live to tape and what emerged was, in our opinion, a bold and ambitious piece of work that we’re proud to present as our first offering. It explores themes of hope, regret, love and the passing of time. We called it Ceremony because we wanted to encapsulate the pursuit of meaning in daily rituals and the celebration of being alive.”

Pre-order debut album Ceremony here.

Listen to ‘Old Man’s Eyes’ on streaming services here and watch the video below.

THE JOY HOTEL 2024 LIVE DATES

31 May – Fynefest, Argyll, UK
06 July – Kelburn Garden Party, Kilmarnock, UK
03 August – SWG3, Glasgow, UK (supporting Belle and Sebastian)

Instore live dates

Monday 22nd July – Glasgow Assai – Tickets here
Tuesday 23rd July – Edinburgh Assai – Tickets here
Thursday 25th July – London, Dash The Henge – Tickets here