These Wicked Rivers

Oct 10, 2026 | Interviews

These Wicked Rivers

Words by Glenn Sargeant

Feature Image Photo Credit: Rob Blackham/Blackham Images

These Wicked Rivers have released their third album, ‘Fire and Folklore’ and will embark on an extensive 2026 headline UK Tour. 

 
You have your new album ‘Fire and Folklore’ out now. How did you want to approach the making of the album?
 
 
First and foremost we wanted to make a better record than the last one which to be honest is pretty tricky as the last album had songs written from over a ten year period so we knew we needed to write some good songs.  We also knew we wanted a step up in the production of the album and to go to a studio that had the right vibes to get the best out of us. We wanted to do as much as we could prep wise so for example get the demos to a high standard backing vocals and string sections fully written then let the vast experience of our production team make changes here and there to really bring out the best in the songs. We wanted the album to have that sort of classic rock n roll feel to it so it takes the listener on a journey with no filler, and we had in our heads we wanted to do at least some of the album recorded all live playing together. On the last album we each went in on different days and recorded our parts separately so this time we all really wanted to be together to really capture the feeling that we had at the time and to enjoy each other’s company while we were doing it.
 
 
 
Where did you record the album and who produced it?
 

We recorded the album at Backstage recording studios which is Andy Sneap’s home studio. It’s a converted 16th century farmhouse in Belper set in the beautiful English countryside so perfect vibes for us. We were very lucky to get Andy Sneap himself and Colin Richardson producing the record and we had Pete Newdeck as our mixing engineer. It was a fantastic experience working with the guys, we learnt a lot from them and their different approaches to the recording process. They have extremely high standards and attention to detail so they really pushed us to perform at our best whilst also providing a great atmosphere of banter and laughter which we feel very at home in.

 

 
 
Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?
 

I think for me it was lovely seeing the relationship that Colin and Andy have together. Their interactions really set the tone which straight away made us feel comfortable working with the pair of them. You know we would wrap for the day and all go out for a Curry together or send someone out on a chippy run and then all sit round laughing as we chased Colin round the kitchen with a remote controlled dinosaur. I used to love Colin when he would really get into a take, he would lose himself and start dancing around the room. I definitely remember him playing the air bass a lot while dancing around the room and he has his air bass very high up with a tight strap but he’s old school so you know.

 

 
 
Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?
 

On drums Colin suggested we try and get trashy sounding cymbals to give the album some dirty vibes, so there’s use of O-Zone and Trash crashes throughout the recording. Bass wise it was fairly simple, we tested about six basses and couldn’t quite find the right tone then Andy said “hold on a minute” and wandered off. He came back with a 70s P bass that he was sure had been in a house fire. He had swapped the pick ups out for some Dimarzio DP122s, Adam put some Elixir strings on it, cranked the tone knob, ran it directly into the desk with a SansAmp plugin, and that set the tone for the whole album. For the strings I think we used a BBC symphony orchestra plugin which worked really nicely and pretty much kept my Nord pre sets for the organ sounds. Most of the guitar work was done on our trusty Gretsch guitars who we have a wonderful relationship with. They even sent us a Falcon Rancher to do the acoustic parts with.

 

 
 
Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?
 
 
Sing Another Song is probably the happiest song on the album. It’s about celebrating the connections that music breeds between us and the joy that that can bring to us all.
 
Ain’t No Smoke is probably the angriest, it’s about finding out you’re being cheated on and having that confrontational moment where everything is dragged out into the light.

Reflective is probably Horse to Water as I talk about struggles with addiction and how a person cannot be helped until they are ready to receive the help no matter how hard you might try.

 

 
Does the album’s title have a specific meaning/significance?
 

The title Fire and Folklore for me evokes the human tradition of sharing knowledge through stories. Sitting around the campfire throughout human history telling stories to each other, sharing knowledge and tradition. You know there have been times throughout human history where the printed word has been banned or information has been withheld or suppressed so sharing knowledge through song, story or folklore is part of the human experience that goes way back. What we essentially wanted to do with this album is to continue that tradition and tell stories. Some of them are reflective, some of them are about keeping memories alive and some of them are warnings.  I find it really interesting how folklore exists and where those stories come from, what shapes them over the retellings and how they can guide our thoughts and actions. I think probably music and stories have always gone hand in hand and probably have existed for as long as people have been around to tell them.

 

 
 
Was it a difficult album to write?

It was quite a hard record to write to be honest as we really wanted it to be something special. Personally, I don’t think I’ve worked on anything this hard in my whole life, I really put my heart and soul into this one as did all the boys. Yeah, we wanted it to be special so we were writing for a couple of years really, whenever and wherever we could. Sometimes that was on the road or in the few breaks that we had between tours here and there. I think we’d come up with 16 songs in that initial period. We knew we wanted ten songs on the album so in order to whittle it down from the 16 we got all our super fans together at a gig we do every year called the Family Gathering and we played them the 16 songs. We asked for their feedback on those songs, and we also presented them to the label and management and got feedback from them as well. From all that we sort of realised that probably only 6 of those 16 songs were strong enough and at the level that we really wanted them to be at so we went back to the drawing board, and we started writing again. During that second writing period we came up with some really good songs that ended up on the album so it was definitely worth taking that extra time to reflect, take on board other people’s feedback and to go at it again. It’s not always easy to do when you have spent a long time working on material and then you get told some of it is not good enough. Luckily though we have a great team around us and we really respect their opinions and it was definitely the right decision as the album is so much stronger for that.

 

Who designed the album artwork?

An artist called Natalie Muir who goes by the name @inktally. I think Adam found her work on Instagram a few years back and instantly connected with it. He had always either wanted to buy some of her work or commission something at some point but never found the right thing to have done. When we started talking about the album artwork, he added her account to the mix of artists we were considering, and we all vibed it so we reached out to her. She wanted to have a listen to some of the demos to get a feel for the record and what we were all about which I think is so important for an artist to do. Once she was happy and wanted to work with us we gave her a short brief which was basically do what you do, and she came up with the beautiful piece of art that you see on the cover. We were more than happy with the design as it encapsulates both the classic and the modern, the grounded and the psychedelic.

 

 
 
One of the tracks is the single ‘Sing Another Song’ with Kezia Gill. What was the story/inspiration behind the track and how did the collaboration with Kezia Gill arise?
 
 
The two things go hand in hand really. We were doing a couple of shows with A Thousand Horses who are a brilliant band from Nashville that are a little bit more country than we are, and at one of the gigs Kezia was there doing guest vocals on a song. I’d gone over and said hello to her before the gig as I’d started hearing her name more and more as we both live in Derbyshire and I wanted to congratulate her on her hard work and growing success. After the gig I was talking to a fan who’d shown me a photo of her and Michael the lead singer of A Thousand Horses from 10 years ago and a photo of them together that night. I told Michael about it and he said “it ain’t the years that gets you it’s the miles” and that just started a lyric playing around in my head. I started thinking about that symbiotic relationship between the musician and the fans, also people’s relationship to music and how it might change over the years but it’s always there for you through the good times and the bad to help you cope. Once I had the theme in place the lyrics came fairly easily, it’s the first time I’ve ever written a song completely in my head from start to finish, lyrics and melody without ever picking up an instrument. I produced a rough demo and played to the label and I think early on there was talk of some kind of collaboration. Once that was suggested there was only ever one person that I wanted to do it because even though she didn’t know it, she was tied to the story of the inspiration for the song. Thankfully, she agreed to do it and came to the studio and did an absolutely incredible job. It was originally going to be just an acoustic guitar and vocal track but after hearing her voice and the harmonies with John I had to add the Hammond organ, get a baseline on it and some simple percussion.
 
 
 
The track is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind it and who directed it?
 
 
We wanted to keep it fairly simple as a performance-based video and as we are doing our album launch gig at the Buxton Octagon Hall, we were familiar with the space and knew it was a lovely room to perform in. We wanted to add to the aesthetic with our Persian rugs and hundreds and hundreds of dried flower petals. We wanted to cover the floor with them, so it looked really beautiful, however we also had multiple cameras filming, one of which was a drone. Unfortunately, we didn’t consider that once the drone took off it was going to blow all the flowers away so pretty soon after the drone went up there weren’t many flowers in the shot anymore. Other than that, I thought the space worked really well, open and airy, surrounded by the columns and architecture with the stage in the background, just standing on rugs with our instruments letting the song do the talking.
 
 
Video Credits:
Production – Alchemy Productions
Executive producer – Andy Morahan
Producer – Josie O’Toole
Director – Conor Butler
DOP – Jordan Butler
Drone Operator – Dickon Clark
 
 
Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2026/2027?
 
 
Supporting Robert Jon And The Wreck – October 2026
Album launch show at Buxton Octagon Hall – October
Supporting Reef October/November 2026
Headline UK run November/December 2026
Euro Headline tour Jan/Feb 2027
Headlining Mayorsfest, Call Of The Wild and Loverocks festivals 2027
With more yet to be announced

Feature Image Photo Credit: Rob Blackham/Blackham Images

 

These Wicked Rivers third album ‘Fire and Folklore’ is out now.

The album is available in standard black vinyl, orange “fire” vinyl, purple “folklore” vinyl, picture disc and limited edition pressed flower vinyl. It is also available on CD, USB and on all streaming services including Bandcamp. Physical album copies and merch available at www.thesewickedrivers.com

Fire and Folklore UK Album Tour

19 – Newcastle, The Grove

20 – Glasgow, Stereo

21 – Aberdeen, The Tunnels

22 – Carlisle, The Brickyard

26 – Leicester, O2 Academy2

27 – London, The Garage

28 – Norwich, Norwich Arts Centre

29 – Milton Keynes, Craufurd Arms

 

DECEMBER

03 – Birmingham, O2 Institute

04 – Bristol, Thekla

05 – Falmouth, Cornish Bank

06 – Portsmouth, The Lens

10 – Cardiff, The Globe

11 – Llandudno, Motorsport Lounge

12 – Manchester, Deaf Institute

13 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club

19 – Morecambe, Winter Gardens

 

JANUARY

8 – Cambridge, The Junction

10 – Sheffield, Greystones

Tickets and info via: www.thesewickedrivers.com