Snow Patrol, the "Eyes Open" Era

[banet2001]

Snow Patrol name new album

The band reveal LP details

Snow Patrol have revealed that they are to name their upcoming fourth album 'Eyes Open'.

The band have also said that they have nearly finished work on the follow up to 2004's 'Final Straw'.

In a posting on the band's official website snowpatrol.net, singer Gary Lightbody said of the title: "We're gonna live with it for a while but as far as the lyrics go it makes perfect sense so it's likely it'll stick."

He added that the finishing touches are being made to the album across the UK and Ireland, saying: "We have a busy week next week doing some recording in Dublin, Glasgow and finally London."

'Eyes Open' is expected to feature the tracks 'It's Beginning To Get To Me', 'Make Me Go On Forever', 'You're All I Have', 'Open Your Eyes', 'The Only Noise', 'Warmer Climate', 'You Could Be Happy' and 'Chasing Cars'.

www.nme.com/news/snow-patrol/21742

[rxmarcus]

Great news. I love Final Straw, hopefully this album will be as good, if not better.

[banet2001]

Snow Patrol 'Opens' Up On New Album

Snow Patrol has christened its new album "Eyes Open" and is planning to issue the set in April via Polydor in the United Kingdom and A&M/Interscope in North America.

As previously reported, the group is working again with producer Garret Lee, who was behind the boards for the 2003 breakthrough album "Final Straw." The set has sold 459,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and featured the single "Run," which reached No. 15 on Billboard's Modern Rock airplay chart.

"We've experimented a lot more with sounds and odd instruments we've never used and pushed ourselves as far as we can but the essence of what we are is still the same," frontman Gary Lightbody said in a recent chat with fans on Snow Patrol's Web site. "Essentially it's based around melody."

Lightbody added that while in the studio, the group has been listening to such acts as Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush ("for strange vocal melodies") and composer Gyorgy Ligeti ("for strange arrangements"). He is particularly high on the track "Chasing Cars," which he calls "the purest love song I've written. No tinges of darkness or misery -- just totally uplifting."

Asked by a fan if the group has been affected by the commercial success of "Final Straw," Lightbody replied, "We were doing it for nearly 10 years without success so I guess it's not very important to us. [But] we'd love it if lots of people heard this though, as I know it's our best stuff."

No live performances are on tap for the time being, but Lightbody and Snow Patrol turntablist Tom Simpson are confirmed for a DJ set on Dec. 31 at Edinburgh's Gig. DJ sets will also be provided by producer Jacknife Lee and Belle & Sebastian's Richard Colburn.

www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001658667

[GiggaWho]

I liked Final Straw too. I hope they are gelling well with their new bassist. I'm looking forward to another strong album.

[43dudleyvillas]

Really looking forward to this. So...does this mean that they'll get a simultaneous UK/US release in April?

[smileyface]

Can't wait to hear this. Final Straw is awesome!

[banet2001]

Snow Patrol 'Set Fire' While Trying To Stay Warm In Irish Studio

Band expects to finish Eyes Open by the end of the week.

For a band whose name seems to imply that it spends an inordinate amount of time trouping about the arctic climes, the guys in Snow Patrol seem to genuinely hate the cold. Which is probably why ever since November, they've been so committed to working on their new album — it's genuinely a lot warmer inside a recording studio.

But now, as the sessions for the new album enter the home stretch, Snow Patrol have apparently decided to try converting keystrokes into heat, which is evident by the copious amounts of album updates the band has been posting on SnowPatrol.net.

"How are you all? I hope you're not too cold. It could freeze the tears of Satan himself over here in Ireland," frontman Gary Lightbody wrote in a recent post. "This is our penultimate week in the studio and things are still running [smoothly]. [I've] started vocals (lyrics all written) and I seem to be able to carry a tune ... however this may well be the relative calm before the storm as the last week of recording is generally hectic. People running about wildly shouting, 'The such-and-such machine has crashed and all the guitars are lost forever' and 'We've got the guitars back but everything else has blown up.' Someone may also catch on fire."

Barring any bouts of spontaneous combustion, the new Snow Patrol album, which Lightbody said will be called Eyes Open, will be finished by the end of the week. The band began working on the album in earnest back in July, writing more than 30 songs with producer Garrett Lee, who oversaw the session for the band's 2004 breakout record Final Straw (see "Snow Patrol Chill Out In Studio For Final Straw Follow-Up"). Though it's not known what happened to the majority of those songs, Lightbody has mentioned a handful that will probably make the cut for Eyes Open, including "It's Beginning to Get to Me," "You're All I Have," "The Only Noise" and "Chasing Cars."

"We've experimented a lot more with sounds and odd instruments [that] we've never used and pushed ourselves as far as we can," Lightbody wrote of the new songs. "But the essence of what we are is still the same. Essentially it's based around melody."

Lightbody went on to add that three of the songs on the new album feature strings, and two more boast a full-blown choir. But it's not all bombast. Another tune, called "Set Fire to the Third Bar," is "a very fragile, dark-but-oddly-sweet, piano-led little thing" that provides a moment of respite from what is shaping up to be a pretty loud album.

"It's a pretty big sounding record so another brief moment of quiet won't hurt," Lightbody wrote. "[But] it's not going to be awash with bombast. In case anyone was worried."

The band will put the finishing touches on Eyes Open in Dublin, Glasgow and London over the next few weeks, and the album is due in stores in April.

www.vh1.com/news/articles/1517993/20051213/snow_patrol.jhtml?headlines=true

[crash46]

I'll be looking forward to this as well. If the new cd is released in April, it'll be around a time where a lot of other CD's I'm anticipating are tenatively to be released (ie. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lostprophets, Muse, and Atreyu, to name a few). But with a strong lead single, it won't get lost in that shuffly.

"Spitting Games was my #97 song of 2004, and "Run" was #66 (with over 4 more months of carryover into 2005).

[reception]

Reviewed by Edna Gundersen
USA Today

Snow Patrol, Eyes Open (* * * 1/2 out of four) A band that was in danger of becoming Coldplay's sissy cousin kicks sand in the face of those comparisons with a vigorous and muscular sound that maintains its hallmark squishy center. Like predecessor Final Straw, Snow Patrol's fourth album is intimate and bittersweet with singer/lyricist Gary Lightbody loitering at love's lost-and-found department. This time, the melodies are beefier, guitars are bold and distorted, and rockers and ballads alike thrum with a fevered heartbeat. Chasing Cars, You Could Be Happy and Set the Fire to the Third Bar, given an unsettling twist by Martha Wainwright's vocals, demand repeat listenings. Grand and anthemic but never bloated, Eyes Open is an ear-opening delight.

[Ragin]

It's an excellent album. Don't get me wrong it has weak songs where Final Straw did not, but I think the strong songs are a lot stronger than Final Straw.

Love this album

[No Brake$]

This album cooks with gasolene, right up there with The Strokes for this year's best.

[reception]

2006 American Music Awards

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Is the CD good? I'm tempted to get it because I really love 'Chasing Cars'!

[Hook]

It's great. I'd recommend getting it.

[areyoureadytojump]

2/10/07 chart:

64 Snow Patrol - Eyes Open 11,798 12,519 -6% -721 14,872 19,855 865,022

[beaston]

I love this album!!!

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

I found that they sometimes sound like the Gin Blossoms. It's a good album. Still getting into it.

[Mic Technique]

^Gin Blossoms? Wow, interesting and surprisingly accurate comparison.

I really enjoy this album. One of the best things to come out of 2006, period. I just wish they would give "Hands Open" another push but maybe at Pop radio because it is such an incredible song, IMO. But that probably won't happen so let's see how "You're All I Have" fares at Alternative. It's one of the album's best offerings but I find myself worried that it won't do much.

[areyoureadytojump]

Certified 2xp in Europe.

IFPI.org:

Snow Patrol's Eyes Open, nominated for Best Album at the 2007 Brit Awards, gains its second Platinum Award as sales pass the two million mark. Originally from Northern Ireland, Snow Patrol were stalwarts of Scotland's indie rock scene in the late 1990s before finding mainstream success with their top five hit Run in 2003. Released in May 2006, Eyes Open went onto become the biggest selling album of last year in the UK. The band also picked up four awards earlier this month at the 2007 Irish Music Awards including Best Album, Best Band, Best Live Performance and Most Downloaded Song for Chasing Cars.

SNOW PATROL EYES OPEN UNIVERSAL 2xp

[areyoureadytojump]

3/3/07 chart:

41 AAM 93 91 88 SNOW PATROL EYES OPEN 12,413 +14% 10,871 898,537

[areyoureadytojump]

3/17/07 chart:

43 AAM 88 92 89 SNOW PATROL EYES OPEN 9,163 -1 9,237 916,937

[43dudleyvillas]

According to the Belfast Telegraph, Snow Patrol has contributed a previously unreleased song called "Signal Fire" to the Spiderman 3 OST.

The band had originally offered their new single Signal Fire for the latest Shrek movie but, according to the four-piece band's drummer, Jonny Quinn, Snow Patrol was not quite the loveable green ogre's thing.

"Shrek didn't like it, but Spiderman did," said Jonny. "It's not too far from something like It's Beginning to Get to Me. You know, it's a Snow Patrol song, basically."

Turns out "Signal Fire" will be the lead single off the Spiderman 3 OST, which will be released on 1 May via Reprise Records.

"Signal Fire" will debut on AOL First Listen tomorrow (23 March) and be available on iTunes on 3 April. It is being serviced to radio digitally tomorrow, as well.

I'm looking forward to this. I enjoyed Eyes Open from a sonic standpoint, but was underwhelmed by the lyrics. I do wish that "Hands Open" had gotten more of a push, though. Anyway, yay for new Snow Patrol!

[gpduke03]

Great album!! Although they're getting a lot of success, they're still very under appreciated.

[AutomaticBR]

won't they have another hit in the US? i mean, "Chasing cars" is on the chart for 44 weeks, i want another song there!

also, any idea of how much their first 2 albums sold?

[joker]

www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34552

This link from May '06 said a Billboard article reported that "Final Straw" sales were at 469,000, while Hits Daily Double (in a slightly newer article) had it at 481,000.

[areyoureadytojump]

3/31/07 chart:

95 SNOW PATROL EYES OPEN 8,535 933,884

Still not certified by the RIAA.

[Sara]

I love this album.

[blurple]

Just heard 'Signal Fire'. Quite different from the other singles I heard from the previous Spiderman OSTs but I love this one.

[gpduke03]

I hope they can pass 1 million.

[Mike]

Here are mp3s of their two performances on SNL:

Chasing Cars - 4:05 - 7.50 MB
www.sendspace.com/file/xlcmbi

You're All That I Have - 3:25 - 6.27 MB
www.sendspace.com/file/0il3s9