Biffy Clyro celebrates a new beginning with A Celebration of Endings.

The latest effort from the Scottish rockers is technically the follow-up to 2016’s Ellipsis, though in between, they recorded a soundtrack album for a movie called Balance, Not Symmetry. Speaking to ABC Audio, drummer Ben Johnston explains how the experimental nature of Balance helped guide the direction of Celebration.

“We felt unshackled [with Balance] and we got to just do whatever we wanted to,” Johnston says. “It’s almost like every song is by a different band but with the same singer, ’cause the music is so broad, we touch on so many different styles on that album.”

“So that definitely allowed us to be a bit freer,” he adds. “I think that did bleed into A Celebration of Endings.”

You can hear that experimentation on lead single “Instant History,” which boasts a giant chorus coated with, as Johnston puts it, a “big, chunky synth.”

“I loved it right away, I’ve gotta be honest,” Johnston says of “Instant History.” I’ve got nothing against those sort of tones at all, I love it.”

Overall, Johnston feels that he and his band mates “take a lot of chances” with Celebration.

“I think it’s pretty out there,” he says. “I’m really, really damn proud of it.”

A Celebration of Endings arrives this Friday, August 14. On Saturday, Biffy Clyro will play the album in its entirety during a livestream concert.

By Josh Johnson
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