Manchester’s The Maple State have reissued their album At Least Until We’ve Settled In and extended it a little bit. The EP was originally released in 2005, but now its remastered and an extended reissue that includes four additional, previously unreleased songs, along with three new acoustic versions, reimagined and recorded during the global lockdown of 2020. I particularly liked the lockdown versions of the songs at the end. Whenever I hear “new” material from the band, I’m a happy guy.

Christian of the band said:

Back in 2004, while the band was very new, I was in the depths of a love affair with midwestern emo, but I had been raised on old punk by my Dad, by new punk from my brother, and post-hardcore and post-rock from my friends and the lads in the band. On top of that, you can’t grow up in Manchester and not be influenced by the sounds of the city. It all played a huge part in my musical development. I wanted it all, in every song. I would start writing an idea with a guitar part, a drum loop or keyboard pattern, and immediately the song would fire off in every direction. In our practise room in Stockport it was punk, it was emo, it was indie, I was John Squire and Johnny Marr, we were New Order and Oasis, we were The Anniversary and Explosions in the Sky. It was just such an exciting time to make music.

I’m thinking hard, but I don’t remember the release show for the EP. I do know that it was at The Phoenix on Oxford Road in Manchester, but we played so many shows there, the memories blend into one. For a while, it felt like we were playing there every other weekend. Shows put on by Daniel Mills with bands like Tigers, Hot Club de Paris, Mates of State, and the Jesus Years. The room was always packed and sweaty, the audience was right there in your face and the vibe was pure excitement, it felt like everyone was in on the same amazing secret. These shows were also the nights where I would meet Tom Beck and others who would play a huge part in the journey of The Maple State and become friends for life.

Over the years I’ve been amazed by the number of people, who we’ve met or who have written to us, telling us what this EP meant to them. I’ve heard stories about road trips across America, summer holidays in Japan, lives in Mexico, Germany, Argentina, difficult school years and old relationships, all memories tied up with these songs. I can honestly say, I never imagined this would happen. Thinking back to being 20 years old, in Andrew Farrer’s student flat / home studio, recording layer upon layer of guitar, the four of us shouting “I know your mother’s worried” into the same microphone, and then driving around Manchester all night listening to mixes in the car.

We released “At Least Until We’ve Settled In” back in March 2005, it was only ever available on CD and the CDs were only really available to buy at our shows, or a handful of record shops around the UK. So, over the last few months I’ve spoken a lot with Greg and Will about finding a way to make the EP available for everyone, everywhere, forever. After a bit of tinkering back in Andrew’s home studio, here it is – a digital re-issue of “At Least Until We’ve Settled In”, ready for the modern age with all the songs that never made the final EP, as well as new acoustic versions reimagined and recorded during lockdown.

Truly, I am continually grateful for your support for our music over the years and I hope that this re-release will tide you over until we can meet again and sing these songs together

You can purchase the album at Bandcamp, iTunes and Google Play. Yes, it’s on Spotify too.