WIRRAL indie-rock quartet Hooton Tennis Club have announced that they have signed to a new record label and will return with a new single.

The band, who have signed to Alcopop! Records, will return with their new single ‘Born, Died’ on November 12 2024.

Recorded by Al Habeck and Hooton Tennis Club at MUMA Studios, the track was mixed by Harry Chalmers, and mastered by Tom Langrish at E1 Mastering (IDLES, Fontaines D.C, DITZ).

Label boss Jack Clothier said: “From the very first moment I heard HTC's breakout single Jasper on Lammo's show, I was blown away - and they pretty much instantly became my favourite band of the year!

“It was just this feelgood instant fuzzy slacker indie smash hit that bounced about for months, pirouetting round my cerebellum like a wistful stroll through the beautiful autumn leaves of Crosby.

“Imagine my unimaginable delight when a few years later HTC happened upon our inbox with a collection of demos that sounded even better.

“Could not be happier to be working with Hooton Tennis Club, and we're monumentally excited for you to hear these songs, and hang out with them on the road actually - because they appear to be the nicest people as well. Some bands have it all.”

Hooton, consisting of Ryan Murphy (vocals/guitar), James Madden (vocals/guitar), Callum McFadden (bass) and Harry Chalmers (drums) have appearances at Beyond The Music and Favourite Days Festival lined up this autumn, and will curate their own New Year’s “Hootonanny” on December 31 2024 at Future Yard in Birkenhead.

Their first new material in four years following standalone single ‘Monsoonal Runoff’ (2020) and the release of their transitional second LP Big Box of Chocolates (2016), the new single shows off Hooton’s fully-formed new sound which finds the band definitively moving away from their slacker roots and embracing a more stripped back, genteel aesthetic which takes cues from Elliot Smith and The Shins.

The new single takes its title from a painting by artist Richie Culver in the 2023 John Moores Painting Prize show which features the words "born" and "died" painted on a large, otherwise-empty canvas, grimly reminding frontman Ryan Murphy of the meta-data found on celebrity profiles on Wikipedia.

Ryan said: “With this subject matter, and the recording clocking in at two minutes thirty-something seconds, the song now plays out like 'Roy', the life simulator game in Rick and Morty.

“I really like the way we've captured it on record and in the mix, though—it reminds me of The Clean (minus the popping snare): fun, but kind of sad.”

'Born, Died' began as a drunken chant between singer-songwriter Hannah Brown (Hank B) and some friends of the band, who were improvising Celtic folk songs with Murphy and his partner at their flat one night.

Ryan said: “The ‘Well yes, well yes!’ of the chorus became the sing-along, mantric answer to the ‘more wine?’ question of the evening.

“Hannah started singing about the mispronunciation of Bowie, coupled with the French expression, ‘Bah, oui!’, which sort of means ‘but of course’. Some days later, I asked Hannah if I could use the ‘well yes’ thing. She laughed and kindly agreed to let me steal it.”

The band will be revealing further new music and live dates over the coming months.