Big Stir Records is proud to bring you our final major album release for 2025: ‘Mood Elevator’, the latest album from British indie rockers The Gold Needles. The fourth full-length release from the acclaimed Kingston-Upon-Hull-based band and their debut for BSR, it features no fewer than four indie hit singles, including last month’s ‘Turns To Gold’ the current release ‘Crescent Moon’ and their 2024 label bow ‘I Don’t Know About That.’
The Gold Needles (Simon Dowson, lead vocals, guitar; Dave Burbage, lead guitar; Mark English, keyboards; Carl Slaughter, bass; Will Jones, drums) have taken a definitive leap forward in an already acclaimed career.There’s a new polish to the production that retains all the band’s energy, and the tunes are the catchiest the Needles have ever crafted. The strength of the singles – the pure power pop of ‘I Don’t Know About That,’ the lush textures of ‘Supernature’ , the hooks of the acerbic ‘Turns To Gold’ and the sheer beauty of the current ‘Crescent Moon’ (already taking the global indie rock airwaves by storm) – are evidence enough that an already exciting group has levelled up, but the depth of the album is still a revelation.
All ten songs are up to the standards of the singles, presenting the label with the good-problem-to-have of picking the tracks to receive standalone releases in support of Mood Elevator.
It’s thus that ‘Keep On Telling Me Why’, a punchy and completely infectious rocker with an eminently relatable theme, will be the record’s fifth single this Winter. But even with fully half of the album’s tracks getting showcases on the airwaves, there’s more: one trip through the record reveals the way the urgent ‘Eleven Eleven’, the second track on the album, propels the album forward, barely leaving the listener time to catch their breath.
‘I’ll Take My Chances’ would likewise have been a clear pick for airplay on any other album, and “Someone Someday” puts a unique GNs spin on the Style Council/Aztec Camera sonics of ’80s radio. With so many of the tracks pulling inspiration from the whole of rock history from the ’60s British Invasion to the ’90s Britpop movement and beyond, Mood Elevator is perhaps most remarkable in its timelessness. Almost any of these tracks could have been a commercial hit at any point during those decades: it’s equally easy to imagine these tracks rubbing shoulders on the charts with the Stones, Cheap Trick, Duran Duran or Blur… or indeed The Bay City Rollers, who are specifically cited by the band as a key inspiration for the accessible approach they so adroitly achieve here.
More importantly, the record simply radiates confidence and, even better, the joy of a band that clearly knows they’re onto something special. The closing track, a killer near-instrumental whose only lyrics are its own (and the album’s) title, illuminates how much fun The Gold Needles have clearly had creating these songs in a way that can’t help but sweep the listener along with them. The title is no accident: this is an album intended to raise spirits, and early reactions strongly suggest that it’s a rousing success. Take a ride on this Mood Elevator... we feel certain you will agree.
