Big Big Train announce new single Bats In The Belfry

Big Big Train
(Image credit: Sophocles Alexiou)

Big Big Train have announced that they will release a new single, Bats In The Belfry. It will be the final single taken from the band's upcoming album Welcome To The Planet, which is released through their English Electric Recordings label on January 28. 

"Bats In The Belfry is the final single we will be making available in advance of the Welcome To The Planet album which will be released on 28th January 2022," the band have said. "BITB is an instrumental penned by our drummer Nick D'Virgilio."

"Big Big Train has many songs where the drum parts are challenging and we have a few instrumentals now, but I wanted to write something to really give me the room to stretch out on the drums," adds D'Virgilio. "I wanted the song to be fast but groovy. I’ve also enjoyed writing more specific parts for our brass ensemble.

"The song started with the bass line and grew from there. Next came the main melody in the opening section. From there I was off to the races. I was able to add fast 'drum-n-bass' style drum solos over the top of some nice counterpoint brass lines, a rocking middle part, and an end section where I changed the beat around just for fun. 

"One thing I have to say is that no matter what I throw at this band they can handle it and then some. The first time I heard Rikard’s 'surf' sounding guitar on the fast middle section I burst out laughing with musical joy!"

Big Big Train recently cancelled their upcoming tour dates in the wake of the tragic passing of singer David Longdon.

Big Big Train

(Image credit: English Electric Recordings)
Jerry Ewing

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.