SLØTFACE releases new album ‘Film Buff’ 

“We were not trying to be subtle about anything on Film Buff” says Haley Shea. From the snarling ‘I Used To Be A Real Piece Of Shit’ to the gorgeous ‘Impressions Of A Car Crash’, the new Sløtface album is a swaggering collection of pop-rock anthems, driven by giddy confidence.

Film Buff is the follow-up to 2020’s ‘Sorry For The Late Reply’ and while the lineup of the band has changed dramatically between then and now, Sløtface remain as fearless, funny and frank as ever.

“I wanted to write eleven bangers, and have that be the album,” says Haley, comparing it to the youthful excitement of debut album ‘Try Not To Freak Out’. “I wanted more of those big singalong, high energy, mosh pit songs, because those are always the most fun to play live,” she explains. She wasn’t afraid to go for what she wanted either. Halfway through the recording process, the band had a conversation about needing more bangers, so stuck to a series of rules that forbid anything under 160 bpm, while any song over four minutes was also scrapped. “Every track had to feel like pure fun. It was all about spreading joy, positivity or catharsis,” says Haley.

Sløtface also wanted to push their own boundaries. “There were no guilty pleasures. If it worked, if it felt fun, we went for it,” explains Haley. It’s how the band ended up with ‘Lift Heavy’, which is LCD Soundsystem and Talking Heads meets David Guetta. “I would never have done something like that seven years ago,” she grins. “It doesn’t feel like we’ve found the line yet either,”with Film Buff leaving plenty of doors open for the future.

Across the record, Sløtface tackle stereotypes, expectations and gender roles. Toxic masculinity is a big through line as well, “but it’s all done in a much more light-hearted way then what I would have done seven years ago,” says Haley. “We’ve always been a feminist band, and the goal for Film Buff was to write a fun record, but it’s a feminist fun record because that’s just part of who we are.”

Haley elaborates: “When we first started out, I acted a certain way because I had a lot of internalized misogyny, and I didn’t always think people would believe in us because I was a woman,” says Haley. “I’m a lot more confident now though. Punk music should offer catharsis and an outlet for a lot of the shit that you feel, but we can do that in a way that also feels safe and inclusive,”she adds.

The album was written in Oslo, in producer and main collaborator Preben Sælid Andersen’s studio, as well as in various studios, rehearsal spaces, and apartments belonging to the core band members, who also play throughout the album. Simen Følstad Nilsen (guitar), Tobias Osland (guitar), Marie Moe (bass), and Nils Jørgen Nilsen (drums) form the core of the Sløtface live band and helped write and finalize the songs. Songwriters Daniel Hedberg, Michael Champion, and Paul Whally have also contributed to the album.

Catch Sløtface on tour in the UK and Ireland in 2024. Tickets are available here.

Sep 23rd – The Workmans Cellar, Dublin, IE
Sep 24th – Ulster Sports Club, Belfast, NI
Sep 26th – SWG3 Poetry Club, Glasgow, UK
Sep 27th – Zerox, Newcastle, UK
Sep 28th – 33 Oldham Street, Manchester, UK
Sep 29th – Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, UK
Sep 30th – Hallamshire Hotel, Sheffield, UK
Oct 1st – The Victoria, Birmingham, UK
Oct 2nd – Exchange, Bristol, UK
Oct 3rd – Underworld, London, UK

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