Desmond and the Tutus return with new album

In the same vein as Enjoy Yourself, The Tutus’ Sama-winning album for Best Rock, Desmond sees the trio stick to their tried and tested formula of doing, well, pretty much whatever the hell they want to, bucking any kind of song structure or genre convention in favour of being their weird and wacky selves.

Recorded over the last three years, with the final stretch occurring over SA’s recent lockdown, Desmond is a wild and wonderful mix of tempos and narratives that form a coherent body of work, underpinned by frontman Shane Durrant’s unmistakable, warbling tone.

“I feel like somewhere deep inside, we have always wanted to be a band like !!! or LCD Soundsystem that makes full-on indie-disco songs and there are moments in Desmond where I think we finally got it right, especially in the song ‘Difficult’,” explains Craig Durrant (drums) when asked about the general tone and direction of the album.

Desmond also sees The Tutus broaden their lyrical-scape to tackle the ups and downs of social media (“Hard Work”), and the quirkiness of young love (“Freak Them Out”), while also flexing their more serious and sentimental side (“Guts”).

“In general, something that definitely stands out to me about this process of making another album with Craig and Doug is just what incredible, creative musicians they are. I almost feel bad they got stuck in a band with me, but I am constantly in awe of my bandmates and their process,” Shane comments when asked about how it feels to still be making music alongside his bandmates 15 years later.

With a renewed creative vigour, spearheaded by their desire to make music exactly the way that they want to, Desmond and the Tutus have levelled up with Desmond, a body of work that is sure to reach a whole new legion of fans.