WALT DISCO Unveil Brooding Indie-Rock Rendition of 'Never Knew Love Like This Before'

Following their their​​​​ critically acclaimed 2022 debut album Unlearning, Glasgow's premier post punk queer sextet Walt Disco took the US by storm at this year's SXSW, earning praise from Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, Austin Chronicle, BrooklynVegan and more.

In addition to summer appearances joining Primal Scream on their Screamadelica anniversary shows as well as supporting both Duran Duran and Simple Minds, the bombastic act just wrapped up their first US headline tour and will release their new Always Sickening EP November 25 on Lucky Number.

The band offers a second glimpse into the forthcoming EP, with a brooding reimagining of the 1980 Stephanie Mills R&B classic "Never Knew Love Like This Before" released today. The EP also includes covers of Aldous Harding, The Japanese House, The Associates and Dusty Springfield.

Singer Jocelyn Potter on "Never Knew Love This Before": "I think this might be my favourite cover from our wee EP, singing it was a delight and I think you can hear how much fun I was having. We had so much fun studying and taking apart the music, it was absolutely fascinating and we were really in awe of its mastery. Turning the improvised vocal runs into a choral part at the end felt amazing and I love listening to what we ended up with. It's a honour to sing one of the greatest love songs ever written, that perfectly sums up the all consuming nature of loving someone with every inch of your being."

Walt Disco on the EP: "We chose each song for their intrinsic charm and motherly guiding quality. We see this in the confident proclamation in 'Never Knew Love Like This Before', the thankless devotion of 'You Don't Have To Say You Love Me', the shady commentary on the bourgeois in 'Club Country' by our heroes The Associates, the tenderness of 'Saw You in a Dream', and the bizarre world of Aldous Harding's 'The Barrel'.

Each song has a strong sense of emotion and self, which we strive for in our own music. We had a lot of fun working on these covers, both in forming our own interpretations and in recording it ourselves in our wee studio."

Unlearning is out now via Lucky Number and was nominated for the AIM Album of the Year award and the SAY Award (Scottish Album of the Year). The breath-taking debut is steeped in metamorphoses, a stage show in two acts. It covers flings and romances, identities and bodies and change, profound familial love, and - of course - Hollywood glamour.

While the themes of the album are universally relatable, Walt Disco's gift is in the unique experience of discovery and heartbreak between queer people. In Walt Disco's eyes, it's never too late to become what you might have been and there are plenty of possibilities to explore on 'Unlearning'.

Listen to the new single here:

Photo: Celia Croft