Ex-members of Lostprophets have announced the formation of their new group, No Devotion, fronted by Geoff Rickly of post-hardcore outfit Thursday. Rickly was confirmed to be working with members of dissolved the Welsh six-piece in April, after the jailing of former frontman Ian Watkins.
“We didn’t know if we would ever make music again,” bassist Stuart Richardson recalls (via Blabbermouth), “if people would look us in the face. Everything felt like it was over.” Lostprophets disbanded following revelations that frontman Watkins faced charges of sickening sex crimes.
The members of the group immediately distanced themselves from Watkins and many questioned whether they would be able to carry on after the details of the singer’s case were made public. But the members continued to make music, approaching Rickly with a batch of instrumental tracks.
“To be honest, I never really listened to Lostprophets,” Rickly admits. “But… we speak a common language. You don’t really grow out of punk, you grow with it. To me, post-punk was about taking a more sophisticated approach to that sound, and I think we all have a shared respect for that era.”
Following much consideration, Rickly agreed to front the members’ new band, after initially only working with them “from a label perspective.” “I had always liked these guys in passing: they’re funny and self-aware. I didn’t think it was fair, what was happening to them. And, well, the music was too good to pass up,” he said. Readers can check out No Devotion’s first single, Stay, below.
The band are gearing up to play their first gigs at the end of the month in the UK. “We didn’t know what else to do,” said Richardson. “We just wrote music. I didn’t know if anyone would want to hear it, I didn’t know if anyone ever would hear it. I just needed to occupy my brain. We just needed this.”
Check out all of this week’s new music right here!
Listen: No Devotion – Stay
