Cornershop Share “No Rock: Save in Roll,” New Single off First Proper Album in 8 Years

The enduring Britpop group Cornershop—known for their single “Brimful of Asha”—have released the first song from their forthcoming album England Is a Garden, due out in March 2020—the first proper studio album from the band since 2012’s Urban Turban. “No Rock: Save in Roll” is a joyous ode to the golden age of rock and shows the group following a new guitar-driven direction.

While Cornershop’s ‘90s catalog was defined by their unique blend of Britpop and traditional Indian styles, “No Rock: Save In Roll” lives up to its title with a straightforward rock ’n‘ roll approach. The crunchy Stones-esque guitar lick that opens the piece builds a swaggering groove for Tjinder Singh’s vocals to glide over. With passionate female vocals behind him, Singh reminisces on his English homeland, singing, “In England’s midlands there’s a drop forge.” A press release explains the lyrical influence of the track:

The anvil here is music itself, and a celebration of Tjinder’s birthplace—The Black Country, which gave birth to heavy metal that has gone on to influence the world to dirty rock, whether the streets are lined with pylons or palm trees, the Black Country has allowed us to see things differently.

So the sound here goes back to Englands’ Midlands with two thumbs up to the feeling of hearing heavy metal from the back of a stage, as we all ride on and await the female backing vocals of our song to come in.