Rocktrospectiva: The Simple And Cohesive "Riding On The Tide Of Love" Turns 5

Released on 5 February 2021 "Riding On The Tide Of Love" was the 10th., studio album by Scottish band Deacon Blue. The lead single from the album, the title track "Riding on the Tide of Love", was released on 27 November 2020.

Speaking about the release of Riding on the Tide of Love, lead singer Ricky Ross said: "We never expected to be here, but here we are with the album. When we released City of Love back in March 2020 we celebrated it getting to number one in Scotland and number four in the UK, we were looking forward to a summer of festivals followed by a big tour at the end of the year. As we all know, that didn’t happen and once the dust had settled we realised we weren't going to be going out on the road any time soon. Riding On The Tide Of Love is a continuation of City Of Love, a companion piece that we recorded piece by piece, going into the studio one by one to record our individual parts. In its own way it’s brought us all together, we hope it will bring you together too".

Three songs from the album, "Look Up", "Send a Note Out" and "She Loved the Snow", were written and recorded for the band's previous album, City of Love, but did not make the final cut for the album. The band decided to re-record these songs for inclusion on Riding on the Tide of Love instead.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland, each of the band members had to record the tracks for the album individually, citing that, despite this, the band had never felt "closer together" and "more connected". Lead singer Ricky Ross said: "The band went into the studio one by one to record our individual parts. In its own way it's brought us all together". Riding on the Tide of Love debuted at number 23 on the UK Albums Chart, spending one week on the chart before dropping out of the top 100. In their native Scotland, the album debuted at number two on the Scottish Albums Chart on the week 12 February 2021. 

Reviews of the album were mostly positive saying the album continued in the rich vein of at the time last year's City Of Love. Three of these songs came from the same recording sessions. None of them are fillers. However, none are in the same league as Dignity, which managed to be both morose and uplifting, or Your Town which made gloom danceable. But Deacon Blue have the rare ability to make love, hope, heartbreak, nostalgia and even rage catchy. The one thing you can bank on is that they remain true to themselves.

Riding On The Tide Of Love Track List:  

 

1. Riding On The Tide Of Love

2. She Loved The Snow

3. Nothing's Changed

4. Look Up

5. Time

6. Send A Note Out

7. Not Gonna Be That Girl

8. It's Still Early