Thirty years in, Teenage Fanclub have perfected the art of taking their time. With Here, their tenth studio album and first in six years, the Scottish alt-rock veterans are back, reminding us that patience is a virtue. Norman Blake, one of the band’s three songwriting voices, sat down to discuss the record, the Brexit fallout, and why love—and a little distance—keeps the band together after all this time.
It’s been a while since Teenage Fanclub released new music, and according to Blake, the extended breaks between records aren’t just due to geography (he lives in Canada, while the rest of the band is based in Glasgow). “We’ve always worked when we felt we had something to say,” Blake explains. “We’ve never forced it. That’s the beauty of this band—we’re all still friends, but we don’t see too much of each other. That space is healthy.”
Here comes at a time when the world feels anything but, with division and fear dominating headlines. Blake, however, offers an antidote: a record brimming with warmth, reflection, and understated optimism. “As you get older, you start reflecting more—on relationships, your place in the world, and the future. I think those are the things that find their way into our music,” he says. Tracks like “The Darkest Part of the Night” and “I’m in Love” lean into these themes, exploring the weight of life while still finding beauty in the everyday.
“I’m in Love,” the album’s lead single, is deceptively simple—just a breezy pop song on the surface. But as Blake points out, its emotional depth lies in its honesty. “Very often, people are reluctant to share their true feelings. With this song, I wanted to be completely sincere about how I felt,” he shares. The track, written about his wife of over 20 years, finds Blake embracing vulnerability. “It’s about being with someone through all of life’s ups and downs and appreciating what you have.”
If Here feels like a cohesive work rather than a patchwork quilt of three different songwriters, that’s by design. “We influence each other,” Blake says of his bandmates. “One of us might bring in an idea, and it sparks something in the others. It helps that we record all the backing tracks together, so there’s a natural consistency.”
Consistency, after all, has been Teenage Fanclub’s hallmark for three decades. While many bands with multiple songwriters (looking at you, Sloan and Gomez) lean into their stylistic differences, Teenage Fanclub have always maintained a unified sound. “Maybe it’s just the way we make records,” Blake muses. “But I think it also comes down to the fact that we’ve been doing this so long. We know each other so well.”
As for what keeps the band going after 30 years, Blake’s answer is refreshingly simple: “We still enjoy it. We’ve always made music for the love of it, not for the sake of making money. That’s what’s allowed us to stick around for this long.”
With Here, Teenage Fanclub offer a reminder that sometimes, slowing down is the key to longevity. The record officially drops in September, and if the band’s plans pan out, fans on both sides of the Atlantic can look forward to tour dates soon after. As Blake puts it, “It’s what we do—it feels natural to keep going.”
Here’s to another 30 years.
Listen to the interview above and then check out the videos below.
