Sun-kissed euphoria sets in with The Shipbuilders' 'La Dolce Vita'
Hips sway and sun-kissed euphoria sets in as The Shipbuilders chase down their second album release with the summertime stroll of…
La Dolce Vita
“An exhilarating jumble of Serio Leone, sea shanty and Mersey melody” - Mojo
“The band sounds emboldened, atmospheric, and locked in” – The Front Row
“You will never get bored with this bands magic” – Backseat Mafia
The Shipbuilders - La Dolce Vita
OUT NOW
Shipwrecked Records
From the album, This Blue Earth, released Fri 11 July 2025
www.the-shipbuilders.com
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So much to live for and so much to sing about, Liverpool’s alt-folk propelled, cultural force that is The Shipbuilders look up and see the dappled light on La Dolce Vita, a lushly orchestrated lullaby to the unadorned beauty of life and the third single to be released from their upcoming, second album. Arriving this Fri 11 July 2025, the band’s follow up to 2022’s acclaimed Spring Tide, the release of This Blue Earth gifts another, immersive dive into the band’s distinct world of deep thought and penetrative melody.
Releasing on Shipwrecked Records, a namesake of the band’s long-running national Club Shipwrecked nights, bringing together associated musical vagabonds and artistic kindred spirits, the release of the latest single from the five-piece follows a run of wild and whimsical track releases throughout spring. Showing their propensity for a bar-room jam with the sea-sprayed Daydreaming in April, gaining repeated plays on BBC 6 Music, the band moved swifty to follow-up with the Ernest Hemingway-inspired Hills Of Mexico.
Established as city mainstays over a decade of attention-grabbing writing and contributions to Liverpool’s cultural fabric, The Shipbuilders added a fifth member, Pistol Pete Higham on brass between albums and ascended to new levels of recording technique with the help of long-term producer, Danny Woodward (BC Camplight, Ladytron). In few places on the album is that better demonstrated than on La Dolce Vita, as a swaying study into one man’s contentment blooms into a string-soaked, shimmering, classic matinee soundtrack.
Singer and songwriter, Matty Loughlin-Day reflects on the track, saying: "I don't often write traditionally 'happy' songs for whatever reason. They all often end up being about natural disasters, drinking, death or all three. But with ‘La Dolce Vita', it led me to a very different place. A soothed, contented, almost bewildered place. Taking stock of my lot and almost disbelieving it.
“It's not necessarily about romantic love, or any one ideal, but more about what the ancient Greeks called 'Agape', an unconditional, hard to define love that is all-encompassing and more than a little bit fantastic. It therefore needed a wide sound, a grand, 'take your breath away' arrangement, which, thanks to Danny and the musicians we got in, we were able to get lost in"
Set for release on vinyl, CD and digital formats, This Blue Earth was recorded with the full Shipbuilders line-up with Danny Lee (guitars), Tony Ferguson (bass) and Graeme Sullivan (drums) joining Higham and Loughlin-Day. In addition to their own inclusive, collaboratively-minded events, The Shipbuilders have enjoyed live appearances in support of Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band as well as appearing on major festival stages, including Sound City and Kendal Calling.
With more due to be announced, the band brings their inevitable sense of occasion to a run of shows to support the release of This Blue Earth, confirmed as follows:
Sat 12 July – Llangollen, Eisteddfod
Fri 18 July – Liverpool, Leaf - Album Launch
Fri 5 Sep - Newcastle, Cumberland Arms
For up-to-date information on pre-orders, new releases and live dates, connect with The Shipbuilders online at:
https://www.instagram.com/theshipbuilders
https://x.com/theshipbuilders
https://www.facebook.com/theshipbuilders
