Periphery deliberately changed writing style on Select Difficulty

By Scott Munro
( Prog )
published

Spencer Sotelo says he took a more laid back approach to writing material for Periphery III: Select Difficulty – out this month

Periphery lineup
Periphery

Periphery frontman Spencer Sotelo says he deliberately took a more laid back approach to writing material for their upcoming album.

Periphery III: Select Difficulty is out on July 22 – just 18 months after they released double package Juggernaut: Alpha and Juggernaut: Omega.

And the singer says when he and the band set about writing new tracks, they had no clear idea of what they’d come up with.

He tells Metal Wani: “We didn’t have any sort of direction with this record. It was just kind of, ‘Let’s sit down and write whatever feels like it should come out.’

“With Juggernaut, we were going for a very specific thing – trying to write a story and then match the vibe with the music and lyrics. That put us into a box. I think that’s why it sounded so different from any other Periphery record.

“With the new record, we just went back to whatever we were feeling. There were no preconceived plan or anything. I prefer writing that way.”

Periphery will head out on a North American tour next month, with the frontman hinting about future live plans.

Sotelo adds: “I think we’re trying to get back over to Europe either late this year or the beginning of next year.”

The band released a video for the track Marigold earlier this month.

Select Difficulty artwork

Select Difficulty artwork

Periphery III: Select Difficulty tracklist

  1. The Price Is Wrong
  2. Motormouth
  3. Marigold
  4. The Way The News Goes…
  5. Remain Indoors
  6. Habitual Line-Stepper
  7. Flatline
  8. Absolomb
  9. Catch Fire
  10. Prayer Position
  11. Lune

Periphery tour dates 2016

Aug 04: Raleigh Lincoln Theatre, NC
Aug 05: Atlanta Masquerade, GA
Aug 06: Memphis New Daisy Theater, TN
Aug 07: Dallas House of Blues, TX
Aug 08: San Antonio Alamo City Music Hall, TX
Aug 09: Houston House of Blues, TX
Aug 11: Phoenix The Press Room, AZ
Aug 12: San Diego House of Blues, CA
Aug 13: Los Angeles The Regent, CA
Aug 14: San Francisco The Fillmore, CA
Aug 16: Portland Hawthorne Theater, OR
Aug 17: Seattle The Showbox, WA
Aug 19: Salt Lake City The Complex, UT
Aug 20: Denver Summit Music Hall, CO
Aug 22: Minneapolis Varsity Theater, MN
Aug 24: Milwaukee Turner Hall Ballroom, WI
Aug 25: Grand Rapids Intersection, MI
Aug 26: Detroit St Andrew’s Hall, MI
Aug 27: Pittsburgh Mr Small’s Theatre, PA
Aug 28: Philadelphia Theatre of the Living Arts, PA
Aug 30: Boston Paradise, MA
Aug 31: New York Irving Plaza, NY
Sep 01: Baltimore Baltimore Sound Stage, MD

Periphery tease music from upcoming album Select Difficulty

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.