Sports Team Announce Debut Album Deep Down Happy, Share Lead Single “Here’s The Thing”

U.K. six-piece rockers Sports Team have announced their debut album Deep Down Happy, out on April 3 via Island / Bright Antenna Records, and they’ve also shared the lead single “Here’s The Thing.” Paste got our first glimpse of Sports Team at SXSW 2019, calling them “the most exciting Britpop-indebted band in years.” Paste also named their recent EP Making Hay one of the 20 best EPs of 2019 and named them one of the 20 best new artists of last year.

“Here’s The Thing” is another zippy indie rock romp. Frontman Alex Rice is as playful as ever, as he spouts various modern day conundrums and conventional wisdom like a laundry list of mounting pressure. It functions like a 2020 version of “Parklife.” It’s pesky, colorful and perfectly suited to the maddening, unpredictable times.

Speaking about the album, Rice says, “I don’t think we were conscious of doing it but the album maps the journey of moving in together in Harlesden, moving back to home towns to sleep on floors for 18 months, then coming back to London, weighing up whether being in a band with your mates, being young in London is still the best thing in the world. I think it probably is.”

Sports Team will return to Austin for SXSW this March, and they will head out on a U.S. tour with Bombay Bicycle Club in April and May.

Listen to “Here’s The Thing,” and watch their Paste Studio session below. You can preorder Deep Down Happy here.

Sports Team Tour Dates:

March
06 – London, U.K. @ 6music Festival
07 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Radar Festival
16-22 – Austin, Texas @ SXSW

April
17 – Dallas, Texas @ Granada Theater*
18 – Austin, Texas @ Stubb’s Waller Creek*
20 – Denver, Colo. @ Ogden Theatre*
21 – Tulsa, Okla. @ Cain’s Ballroom*
22 – St. Louis, Mo. @ Delmar Hall*
23 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ First Avenue*
24 – Winnipeg, Manitoba @ The Garrick*
26 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Midway*
27 – Calgary, Alberta @ The Palace*
29 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Commodore Ballroom*
30 – Seattle, Wash. @ The Showbox*

May
01 – Portland, Ore. @ Crystal Ballroom*
02 – Sacramento, Calif. @ Ace of Spades*
04 – San Francisco, Calif. @ The Fillmore*
06 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Fonda Theatre*
07 – San Diego, Calif. @ House of Blues*
09 – Mexico City, Mexico @ El Plaza Condesa*
13 – New York, N.Y. @ Mercury Lounge
15 – London, U.K. @ Clapham Common
21 – Hellendoorn, Netherlands @ Dauwpop
22 – BG Den Haag, Netherlands @ Sniester Festival
23 – Derby, U.K. @ Bearded Theory’s Spring Gathering Festival
24 – Warrington, U.K. @ Neighbourhood Weekender

June
05 – Hulst, Netherlands @ VestRock
11 – Bergen, Norway @ Bergenfest
12 – Oslo, Norway @ Piknik Parken
28 – Halifax, U.K. @ Piece Hall

July
03 – Barcelona, Spain @ Vida Festival
08 – Madrid, Spain @ Mad Cool Festival
10 – Glasgow, U.K. @ TRNSMT Festival
15 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ Ekko
16 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ Ekko
17 – Leeuwarden, Netherlands @ Welcome to the Village Festival
18 – De Schabs, Netherlands @ Zwarte Cross Festival
19 – Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Valkhof Festival

August
01 – Oxfordshire, U.K. @ Truck Festival
07 – Newquay, U.K. @ Boardmasters Festival

(* = w/ Bombay Bicycle Club)