British rock quintet Elbow will unveil its latest album, “Leaders of the Free World,” in wide North American release Feb. 7 via V2. As previously reported, the set has been available in limited release since Sept. 27 via a number of independent retailers, as well as Amazon.com and Apple’s iTunes Music Store.
The album title may foreshadow a heavy political message, but in reality, most of the songs revolve around love, enduring single-dom and moving forward in life, according to frontman Guy Garvey.
“These are songs that anyone can sing, anybody who’s ever wanted somebody to love them,” he tells Billboard.com. “That’s what everyone wants in the end anyway, right?”
The title track, however, diverges from “comfy romance” to address modern politics, aiming specifically at the Bush administration. “There’s plenty of dark imagery in this record,” says bassist Pete Turner. “We play the right kind of music to say what we want.”
Elbow is in the midst of an extensive European tour through Dec. 4 and is planning to hit North American clubs next year.
“We’re really honing our live show, getting the visuals of it down,” drummer Richard Jupp says. “We like seeing a great live show out of other bands and that’s what we expect from ourselves.”
