Deaf Havana, originally from Hunstanton, launch new album The Present Is a Foreign Land

Rock duo Deaf Havana have had to cancel a much-anticipated return to West Norfolk – but are still riding high after releasing their latest album.

Brothers Matty and James Veck-Gilodi, who originate from Hunstanton, had been due to play the High Walls Festival in Congham on Saturday.

But the event was called off earlier this week because of a perceived fire risk, the venue being surrounded by barley fields and weekend temperatures set to top 30C.

Deaf Havana was formed at Lynn’s College of West Anglia in 2005 and have been a successful chart band for well over a decade, becoming a duo last year.

New album ‘The Present Is a Foreign Land’ was released last month.

Matty joined us for a Zoom call from his kitchen before it was announced that the festival was cancelled. He said: “I spent all of my high school years in Lynn and many childhood summers at Hunstanton beach.”

The new album has been described as deeply personal, especially the track Nevermind.

“This song is about the back end of 2019/first few months of 2020, which was pretty much the lowest point of my life to date.

“I tried to channel that emotion into the vocals when I recorded it,” said James.

The album is written about the thoughts and feelings of the duo during that time.

And now the duo are to hit the road again.

“We’re touring around the UK in November. It will be our first opportunity to properly get out to shows again, it’s our first time getting out since 2019 so it’s really exciting.

“You very quickly fall out of practice after not doing live shows during lockdowns.

“All of the shows we’ve done so far have been really nice.”

Deaf Havana have risen through the ranks during their time as a band, earning themselves coveted accolades including three Top 10 albums in the Official Charts.

Review: Glamorous indie rock and roll

Matty described their music as “sad pop rock” and that hits the nail on the head, as a fast-paced and upbeat tune doesn’t always mean the music you’re listening to is necessarily happy.

If you like alternative indie music, with a good bit of electric guitar, this is the kind of album for you.

It wasn’t until my second listen that the lyrics really hit me, and the album touches on some dark subjects such as alcoholism and even mental health issues.

The lyrics are deeply personal, and if you’re going through a bit of a life change and find yourself reminiscing, you might find some songs relatable.

A recurring thought I had when listening to this album was “this would sound great live”.

It’s the kind of music you listen to with a pint in hand on a summer’s day.

Overall, this album was enjoyable, some songs I’ve favourited to listen to again, others are personally not my cup of tea, but they might be yours.

Lucy Carter