McFly release their fourth album, Radio: Active on September 22nd, on newly-founded indie label Super Records. Following the 10 track CD freely distributed in June to 2.4 million households in Britain, this deluxe edition of Radio:Active features four brand new songs, including current single Lies, a DVD and a 32 page colour booklet.
One of the UK’s most successful bands of the past decade, McFly have made the album of their career with Radio: Active. Still boasting their trademark infectious pop hooks, but bigger, bolder and beefier in both sound and scope, the 13 songs bristle with the energy of a band beginning to realise their ambitions. From the dark, grown-up pop-punk of Lies and Corrupted to anthemic power ballad POV, the semi-acoustic, Springsteen-esque Falling in Love and boisterous, party Rockers Do Ya, Everybody Knows and former single One For The Radio, a huge hit earlier this summer, Radio:Active is the record McFly have long had in their heads.
"We always planned to make a big, ballsy album full of energy," says drummer Harry Judd. "We knew how it should be produced, but it never quite turned out that way. Down the line, the sound was filtered through different people’s opinions or became a little too polished. Radio:Active still has the hooky, pop melodies of our previous albums, but the production is a massive step up for us. We set out to capture the energy and excitement we have on stage and we achieved that, and more."
Recorded in Australia at the start of the year with longtime producer Jason Perry and released on McFly’s own indie label Super Records, Radio:Active feels like a fresh start for the quartet who formed five years ago, beat The Beatles to the title of youngest British band to score a No.1 album and have topped the singles charts seven times.
On Radio:Active, McFly mix their love of vintage rock with a British twist on the modern pop-punk sound they share with American acts such as Green Day, Blink 182 and Fall Out Boy. As well as a bigger sound, the lyrics are sharper, smarter and way funnier.
"These songs sum up all the crazy stuff that has happened to us over the past five years," explains singer/guitar Tom Fletcher. "That’s why Radio:Active feels like our definitive album. It’s everything we’ve always wanted, on the one record,"
McFly head out on their biggest ever arena tour in October, already almost sold out, taking in 14 cities across the UK. For all their achievements to date, Radio: Active is the sound of a band whose ambition just went sky high.