Big Big Train's Woodcut: A Narrative Concept Album

0:00It's April 2nd. This is Music News Today, powered by AI tracking hits, artists and trends. Big, big train just unleashed Woodcut, their first full-on narrative concept album. Picture this. During their summer 2023 European tour, founders Greg Spotton and new lead singer Alberto Braven hit the Monk Museum in Oslo Eddon. They stumbled on an exhibit of Edvard Monk's Woodcuts and boom instant inspiration for a story about raw craftsmanship and creation. Back on the tour bus, they pitched it to the crew while everyone was still rubbing sleep from their eyes. The whole band bought in, sending tracks and ideas. Braven to the reins, weaving hours of music into a tight tail that echoes their 70-style live jams, cutting deep like woodblock negatives, flipping to bold prints. This album marks real growth after the heartbreaking loss of longtime frontman David Longdon in 2021.

1:00Spawn admits he woke up sweating, wondering if the band could survive without him. But shifting from studio hermits to road warriors, changed everything, pulling them through grief and personal blows like his stepdad's passing. Braven, fresh from Italy's Permiata for Naria Marconi, brought fresh fire. He craved songwriting freedom they gave him. They cut the record old school at Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, Indiana during a tourstop, sparking magic in the room, even commissioned a real woodcut print for the artwork on a Victorian press. Tour bus vibes stay golden with whiskey nights in tight chemistry, fueling joy amid the pain. Spawnton says it taught him life's one shot, live it full throttle, Longdon would not approval, urging them onward as the train keeps rolling strong.