Roving rockers Alvarez Kings back on home turf for gig this weekend

The four-piece, who played a series of gigs and festivals in America over the summer and will head out to the Continent for a two-week European later in the autumn, play the True North tent in Sheffield’s Fargate at 7.30pm on Saturday as part of the A Taste of Independent Sheffield event.

Singer Simon Thompson revealed he and guitarist Aidan Thompson are working on new material after touring debut album Somewhere Between for the past year.

Future efforts are likely to be more “sparse” and closer to the band’s guitar-based origins in a departure from the synth-laden sound pervading the 2017 long-player.

Further shows are planned in London next month and Elsecar in November.

And both are likely to be at more hospitable times than the hour-long set Simon and co played on Wednesday in a 10am slot at Doncaster College’s freshers event, which required a less than rock ’n’ roll wake-up call.

New boy Aidan came on board after long-time guitarist and producer Sean Parkin — for some time based in London — decided to call it quits.

But Simon insisted there was no split or fallout and the band members remained firm friends.

“It was becoming a bit of a struggle, especially with song-writing, so Sean decided to make his own path down in London,” he said.

“He came and saw us when we played down there recently and we had a few drinks before and a few more afterwards. We’re still all mates.”

The “Kings”, signed to Warner Bros, are now based at Elliott Kennedy’s Steelworks studio in Sheffield, and Simon said the producing legend occasionally popped in to see how they were getting on.

Alongside touring commitments, the next step is dreaming up new material for a possible second album or, more likely, a new EP.

“The way the industry is going, a lot of bands are relaxing a series of songs in a row before they look at releasing the album so an EP may be the way to go,” Simon said.

The other big demand of life in the music is non-musical content, especially on social media, and engaging with their fanbase is one duty Alvarez Kings are more than happy to perform.

“We really appreciate their support and with the right connection it’s more than just a fan base,” Simon said.

“I think they appreciate that if they tweet or message us we will message them back.”