Courteeners tell us about seeking escapism and star-studded collabs on their new album ‘Pink Cactus Cafe’

“I don’t know if a band ever sets out to be poppier, but I think we’ve got to that stage where you’re older, less self conscious and you’re not that 20-year-old posturing in the corner of the bar anymore. So just enjoy a bit more, right?,” reflects Courteeners frontman Liam Fray.

Take a single listen to Pink Cactus Cafe – the seventh album from the Manchester band – and you’ll understand exactly how Fray has managed to manifest this new found assuredness into a record that Fray believes to be “song for song, the best we’ve ever done”.

There’s a newfound sense of freedom in the breezy pop of lead single ‘Solitude Of The Night Bus’, but it’s an album defined by collaborations too – the likes of which Courteeners haven’t tackled in their past. Rising soul star Brooke Combe and Australian Britpop revivalists DMAs are just two of these, after the toil of lockdown saw Fray realising that there was nothing to be lost in seeking connection.

You can read our whole Q&A with Courteeners below.

Congratulations on the new record, Liam. You must be happy with the way you’ve managed to diversify and even head further into a poppier direction.

Thanks, man. You think that the longer you’ve been going the more you have to lose, but it’s almost the opposite. Trust in your gut and your instincts that got you this far. I also think it has to be interesting for everybody in the room. I was speaking to a friend the other week about the St Jude 15th anniversary concerts we did last year and we had to do it, but I think that almost forced us to look forward too. It’s suicide when bands try and create something they’ve done in the past, but also something I did when I was twenty. That’s half my lifetime ago and that won’t work! There’s a real freedom and maybe I shouldn’t say it, but if everyone didn’t like this album I’d just say alright, we’ve got six others. It seems like a body of work now and we’re being at ease with that a bit more, as opposed to every move being make or break.

We were like that earlier in our career, the idea that if we don’t get on the radio we won’t make it. And we were victims of that! We got dropped because we didn’t get on the radio. It was quite hard to shake that, when it was instilled early on. But we’re in a position now where I can listen to it and it sounds like a band at ease.

What spurred you on to continue when you were dropped?

I found it really tough. We never really felt like we were in the building, never mind the top table. We were always on the fringes and whatever, but that that was fine. But when you’re not even on that periphery, it’s like, oh fuck. We played the G Mex in Manchester and it was a big gig that we didn’t quite get right. We maybe played a few too many new songs. Between that and getting dropped in quite a small space of time, I thought we’ve fucked it here. And bands don’t get two chances usually. I went to America and wrote loads of songs and I always felt like the live shows were our lifeblood. When we were playing small gigs, we weren’t thinking about a four album deal, we just wondered if it was connecting and if people would come along for the ride.

Getting dropped made us think OK, fuck all the label bullshit. Let’s get back in those small rooms and see if we’ve still got that connection. And we were all close friends and had each other’s backs too. I think it’s probably like our relationship as well that got each other through.

You’re now seven albums in and there’s some really interesting collabs on this record. What was behind the decision to open up the world of Courteeners in a way that you’ve never quite done before?

I think the catalyst was probably lockdown and being on my own. I’ve done every other song that way, but I would then take some demos to the band and then we’ll take them to the producer.

Because that second step was taken away, it made the first step feel a lot more real and made me think, oh shit, it’s quite solitary and lonely when you’re not on tour and in rehearsals. I didn’t quite realise how much time I spend bobbing around in the house on my own until I was made to do it.

I think I was yearning for connection and there was all these people we’d threatened to work with over the years, but maybe didn’t because there’s a fear of failing if they say no. People who I really respect like James and Ian Skelly. We’ve got the same management, we’ve known each other for years but we’ve never got in the studio together. But it felt like the right time to reach out and from there it was just snowballed – I had the idea to work with DMAs and that was great.

There was different producers too, Joe our bass player did a few tracks, a young guy from Manchester called Andy Gannon who’s a real talent, he did some too.

It was totally out of my comfort zone, but I’m more relaxed. Because at the end of the day if you’ve got a half decent hook then happy days.

You’ve got a real rising soul star in Brooke Combe too. Her voice is amazing.

She’s got an amazing voice, but the way she carries herself too. She’s almost like a boxer, she comes in and when she talks you listen! But she’s super warm and we’ve done gigs with Brooke in the past.

I felt really humbled that everyone we asked to take part came back and said yes and that was a big thing for me because there’s a thing I call The Curse Of The Courteeeners where we sometimes feel like the nearly men. Something goes wrong at the last minute or something doesn’t quite happen and because everyone said yeah, it made me wonder if there’s a younger generation who are saying you’re alright, calm down, we’ll do it! I think I was even surprised that people were saying yes to it.

The title track ‘Pink Cactus Cafe’ deals with the idea of escapism and heading off to sunnier climes. What’s the story there?

I went to Morocco six or seven years ago and I remember thinking I just loved the blue skies and the palm trees, the terracotta coloured buildings. I only went for three or four days, but it felt like a real escape and going in their markets. That was the germination of it, that idea of escape and everything being better on holiday. You know, who’s ever bought a four pack of Mythos when they’ve come home from Greece? It tastes absolutely delicious out there, but no one’s buying it in Tesco right?

I worked on it with our guitarist Joe and Theo [Hutchcraft, Hurts] and we got James Skelly to produce it. It sounds like a song you’ve already heard, but one that isn’t necessarily Courteeners. The idea of this cafe in fucking outer space.

It might make people laugh, but I love to meditate too. We were playing Liverpool Arena in 2018 and me and Conan [Moores, guitarist] went for a lie down in one of the dressing rooms because I had this meditation app. Someone walked in as we were getting settled and said ‘Fucking hell lads, you’ve changed!’

But you need that. Another thing that I’ve tried in the last six months is being on my phone a bit less and oh, my God, it’s been that transformational. Even that is Pink Cactus Cafe. Not taking your phone to dinner and giving someone your full attention, getting rid of all the noise. I’ve realised how wonderful that is.

Where does this album rank in everything that Courteeners have done?

I don’t think any of our fans will ever say it beats St Jude and I get that, but song for song I think it’s the best and I think that’s down to the collaboration. It didn’t start with ten songs either, we had to whittle it down but these were the ones that felt the most, I don’t want to say cohesive, but certainly the most direct for our fan bases and I do think it’s our best song for song. And you know what else is good about that? The other collaborators mean it’s not just me blowing my trumpet either!

And now, seven albums in, would you ever consider your personal Eras Tour playing each record in full every night?

Absolutely. And I’m not gonna lie, it has been talked about! A few years ago on album four we talked about doing four nights at Castlefield Bowl and I would love to do that. What is really nice is that people have something to say about each album and I think that Concrete Love would have been massive if it had a better front cover! But I’d be well up for that.