ROUND WE GO
LABEL: Who Said That Records
CAT no: WST1002
RELEASED: 2025
CREDITS
Richard Hewlett: bass guitar – all lead vocals except Café De Los Muertos and Lost Her Heart
Richard Woodfin: guitars
Richard Manwaring: drums, percussion, loops
Guest Musicians:
Lead vocal on Cafe Del Los Muertos by Wily Bo Walker
Lead vocal on Lost Her Heart by Mandy Bell
Additional Keyboards by Pete Dugdale
Backing vocals by:
Laura Berglund tracks 1,2,3.
Nicola Richardson track 4.
Carrie Price and Karen Soulsby tracks 3,7.
Tracks recorded at The Grange Studios, Norfolk, engineered by Dave Wiliams and Rooster Studios, London, engineered by Nick Sykes.
Overdubs and mixing at The Last Post, engineered by RM.
Mastered by Jerry Stevenson at Utility Mastering.
Songs published by Jig-Saw Music Ltd.
REVIEWS
3 Mile Shout’s debut album Low Battery from 2023 was an inspiration to ancient greybeards like me, who have been playing all our lives but never made it into a recording band.
The three Richards (for indeed, the trio all share the same first name), each have musical history stretching back at least into the 1980s, either professionally or otherwise, but their chemistry and musical compatibility was palpable. Thus, it was with glee that I learned of the release of their second album, Round We Go, in October.
Once again, the band lays down groovy, textured, but wholly relaxed grooves, aided and abetted by a crowd of their musical mates and colleagues. They’ve cut back a bit on the instrumental credits this time, but kept up with the host of backing singers, mostly female. Some of the guest names are familiar from that first set – featured vocalist Wily Bo Walker returns, and Pete Dugdale adds keyboard credits to his backing vocals this time – but for the most part, the add-ons are new names, which just goes to show how many great musicians these guys must know.
The album kicks off with the vaguely ominous groove of Colours, with the protagonist reminiscing about something that happened in 1973. The theme will be familiar to anyone who has ever tried to chat up a girl based on her synesthesia, although of course, that might be quite a limited audience. She claims to ‘feel in colours,’ but he can’t quite get on the same wavelength, pun intended. Second song Taking My Time runs to a slightly faster rhythm – there are some tasty lead licks in there too, and subtle horns, which are uncredited on the album notes.
The band’s somewhat off-kilter view of the world continues with Café de los Muertos, which tells an everyday tale of a mysterious café bar, apparently patronised mostly by dead people, where the waitress doesn’t reflect in the mirror, and the band plays music on guitars with no strings. Our protagonist doesn’t seem too fazed though, even when the café abruptly disappears. A rim-shot rhythm and a tasteful acoustic guitar solo adorn this number, and Wily Bo sings lead on this one, although his voice is so similar to Hewlett’s, it’s difficult to hear the join.
It’s also difficult to pick out highlights specifically, which is a testament to both the quality of the songwriting and the consistency of the performances. As with the last album, Hewlett’s imaginatively funky bass drives each song along, and Woodfin doesn’t seem to have a default guitar sound at all – he brings a deep level of consideration to each song, choosing his tone and effects carefully, usually layering multiple sounds into the mix. Manwaring is credited not only with drums and percussion, but also with ‘Loops’, indicating that there is a higher level of production going on than the band’s laid-back, hippy groove would let on.
However, there are a couple of moments later on that stand out; the first is Lost Her Heart, where the guys seem to wake up and let rip with their first really rocky riff, on their first female-led number – guest singer Mandy Bell generates just the right amount of raunchy rock without going completely off-piste. The second is when this number stops dead, and is followed by the ambient keyboard and guitar wash of Remember When. Some really sweet and subtle guitar riffage accompanies this reminiscent, bluesy ballad. Just when you might think they’ve played themselves out, they seem to stick everything into the last track, Tonight. Another song, another guitar tone, or in this case, several – rapid tremolo (possibly generated by a phaser or flanger pedal), with coil-tapped lead work over the top. For the first time, the song features male backing vocals from Pete Dugdale, and it also hosts the most strident, up-front guitar solo of the whole album.
I can’t help loving this band. They’re not doing anything strange or experimental, they just seem to be happy playing their own music their own way, with their own vision, and doing a bang-up job of it. I don’t know what the atmos was like in the studio, but the end product is calm, cool and relaxed. It kind of makes me want to join a band. More specifically, it makes me want to join this band.
Graeme Stroud - VELVET THUNDER
LOW BATTERY
Released 2023
ROUND WE GO
Released 2025
THE NEXT ALBUM
Released 2027