Blue October plans to "go global" with its fifth album,
"Approaching Normal," according to bassist Matt Noveskey.
"We want to go international," Noveskey tells Billboard.com, adding
that the plan will be in motion in January when the quintet group
flies to Europe for a 10-day promotional swing after it films the
video for new single "Dirt Room."
"It's real exciting because the last record (2006's platinum
'Foiled') did real well here (in the U.S.) and just never really
got that chance (in Europe). One thing we all said was, 'Man, the
next record, we've got to go global,' so right off the bat as part
of our campaign we'll go over and start making a splash
overseas."
"Approaching Normal," which was produced by Steve Lillywhite and
recorded at Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studios near Blue October's
home base of Austin, Texas, is due March 24 from Universal.
Noveskey says that while frontman Justin Furstenfeld remains the
chief songwriter, this album "was more of a group effort where we
all got together and worked up a lot of these songs from scratch.
It made us feel good as a team. There's a lot of camaraderie on
this record."
Noveskey says the dynamic range of the album is more
"dramatic-slash-theatrical" than its predecessors and spans "from
the saddest, most depressing moments to the happiest, most joyful
moments we've ever done." "Approaching Normal" includes studio
versions of older fan favorites such as "Kangaroo Cry" and
"Graceful Dancing" and will also come out in explicit and "clean"
versions, each containing a different bonus track.
Once the album's out, Noveskey says Blue October plans to "tour
like we always do ... big time. We're gonna be relentless. It's
gonna be a lot of work and it'll be tough being away from our
families, but we're gonna work very hard."