Concrete
The first single from Songs of Praise, released September 20, 2017, with a call-and-response between Steen and Finerty.
shame, from Songs of Praise (2017)
The five members share the writing credit. Steen told DIY it is about someone trapped in a relationship, emotionally and psychologically draining rather than physically abusive, and that the call-and-response vocals reflect the central character's internal dialogue. Finerty trades lines with Steen, and to NPR Steen described an observer's view of a doomed relationship, with the whole band singing the ending in a schoolboy-choir, vaguely angelic finale. Bob Boilen of NPR praised its stuttered, call-and-response guitars and compared it to Gang of Four; Billboard's John Norris called it witty, melodic, fiery and addictive. The video, released the same day, shows Steen walking on a treadmill before leaping off to join his bandmates; we could not find the director.
Live, it was played at Chalk in Brighton on June 12, 2021, between "6/1" and "March Day", per NME. We found no chart for the single and no setlist counts.
On stage
- 2021-06-12, Chalk, Brighton A first-back show during the pandemic.
Sources
- Concrete (Shame song), Wikipedia
- Shame share new single Concrete, DIY (2017-09-20)
- Shame live at Chalk, Brighton, NME (2021-06)
- Interview: Shame, The Mancunion (2018-04-23)