The award-winning progressive rock band Big Big Train will release their 15th studio album The Likes Of Us on March 1, 2024. The album is the internationally-based group’s first full collection of songs since the unexpected passing of long-serving lead vocalist David Longdon in late 2021. Besides marking the debut of new frontman Alberto Bravin, a former member of the Italian band Premiata Forneria Marconi, it also heralds the beginning of a new relationship with InsideOutMusic, the group having self-released their music for almost two decades.

Today the band are pleased to reveal a second track taken from the forthcoming album. “Miramare” is an edited version of a song that features in a longer format on The Likes Of Us. You can watch the video for “Miramare”, created by Miles Skarin of Crystal Spotlight below.

Gregory Spawton comments of the track: “BBT is known for its story songs, and I was keen to find a story which is set in Italy. Alberto lives in Trieste and mentioned the story of Maximilian and Carlotta, which was both a romantic (but doomed) love story and also a tale of the end of empires.

“Miramare was their castle home, a castle of dreams, set on the shore just outside Trieste. It turned out to be a grand folly and a place of madness and nightmares. Alberto had written a lovely piece of music and melody to set the words to and so it was simply a process of reading some books on the history and finding the way to tell the story.”

Alberto Bravin adds: “Having grown up in Trieste, and recently returned here after living for some years in London and Milan, the Miramare castle has been a backdrop for most of my life.

“Putting the story of Maximilian and Carlotta into music with Greg has been hugely satisfying for me. It was very fulfilling to co-write this song together and create what will hopefully be regarded as a Big Big Train future classic. With all its twists and turns as the story progresses, Miramare should be great to play live as well.”

The Likes Of Us will be released on several different formats, including for the first time as Dolby Atmos mixed by The Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord, while the stereo mixes were undertaken by the band’s regular engineer Rob Aubrey together with Alberto Bravin. The Dolby Atmos mix will come as part of the Limited CD & Blu-ray Mediabook edition that also contains the album as 5.1 Surround Sound & 24-bit high-resolution stereo. 

The album will also be available as a Gatefold 180g 2LP (available in black, sky blue, olive green and orange formats), Standard CD Jewelcase and Digital Album. The stunning artwork was created by the band’s longstanding collaborator Sarah Louise Ewing, with layouts by Steve Vantsis.

Preorder here.

Tracklisting:

“Light Left In The Day”
“Oblivion”
“Beneath The Masts”
“Skates On”
“Miramare”
“Love Is The Light”
“Bookmarks”
“Last Eleven”

"Miramare" video:

“Oblivion” video:

Big Big Train will perform for the first ever time in the USA in March 2024, including an appearance on Cruise To The Edge. 

March
1 – Fort Wayne, IN – Sweetwater Performance Theatre
2 – Rutherford, NJ – Rivoli Theater at The Williams Center
3 – Rutherford, NJ – Rivoli Theater at The Williams Center
5 – Boston, MA – Regent Theatre

Ticket links for these shows are at bigbigtrain.com.

 

Lineup:

Alberto Bravin – Lead vocals, guitar, keyboards
Nick D’Virgilio – Drums, percussion, vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, vocals
Dave Foster – Guitars
Oskar Holldorff – Keyboards, vocals
Clare Lindley – Violin, vocals
Rikard Sjöblom – Guitars, keyboards, vocals
Gregory Spawton – Bass guitar, bass pedals, 12-string acoustic guitar, Mellotron

(Photo – Massimo Goina)