Calling their new record Exorcism of Youth may lead The View fans to believe that Dundee’s eternal wild child Kyle Falconer and his bandmates have left their boyish ways behind.
But die-hards should know that the Dundee rockers will never truly exorcise their youthful roots.
“I have grown up, but I’m still always going to have… stuff,” admits frontman Kyle candidly, referring to his recent documentary Love And Chaos, which gives an insight into his grief over losing his parents at a young age, and his well-documented issues with substances.
“Before, the reason I was a wreckhead was that I never had anything to do. I lived for touring, and in between tours, I was in limbo.
“Now I’ve got other things going on in my life – my fiancée Laura [Wilde], my kids. I’ve seen the purpose of life.”
The View recently hit headlines after a bust-up on stage in Manchester saw Kyle, 36, swinging at bandmate Kieran Webster.
Guitarist Pete Reilly, 37, admits that he was confused about what was going on, even as he was physically holding long-time pal Kyle back.
“To be honest with you, I thought it was a fan that was on the stage when I looked round,” confesses Pete, who recently moved back to his native Dundee with his girlfriend Phoebe and their Jack Russell, Mama Cass, after spending 10 years in Liverpool.
“It was just a shock when I realised what was happening. But it’s all sorted now!”
Kyle agrees, adding that “what happened was personal between us”, but that the band are very much focused on the magic of the moment rather than the demons of the past.
Exorcism of Youth ‘had 45 tracks written’
Their first release since 2015, Exorcism of Youth rocketed to No 6 in the charts in the week following its release, making it The View’s highest charting record since their debut, Hats Off To The Buskers.
In the band’s home city, punters flocked to Assai Records to meet the lads and have their albums signed, as well as hear a few of the songs performed live in the store.
But even as we speak, the week before Exorcism hits shelves, band leader Kyle is quietly confident in the album’s success.
“The thing is, if you make a good album, there’s nothing to worry about,” he says coolly from his car. He’s on the way to Glasgow to record a podcast with his close friend, Line of Duty star Martin Compston, and is in high spirits.
“And obviously we’ve been away a while, so we had a lot of ammo for good songs,” he continues, revealing that there were originally around 45 songs on the table for the 12-track album.
“We were ready to go, there was no mucking about!”
Pete, meanwhile, admits he found coming back “terrifying”.
“You’re thinking: ‘Will people still like us? Will they still come?’ But the reaction at the gigs was great, the fans were obviously still wanting it, so it’s definitely the right thing.”
‘We were needing a wee break’
Indeed, before their reunion late last year, The View had not written, played or even hung around together for the last five years. So what prompted the hiatus?
“We toured the last album for too long, and it all got a bit stale,” explains Pete, as he walks Mama Cass round his local park. He’s just picked his car up from its MOT “with nothing wrong with it, which has never happened” and sounds genuinely delighted.
“I think we were needing a wee break anyway,” he says. “Kyle wanted to do his solo projects, and six months after the break, I started playing for Echo and the Bunnymen.
“During the break, we never really made much contact with each other. Then we all met up in the old Doghouse (now Church Dundee) and it was like: ‘D’you wanna do it?’ ‘Aye go on then!’
From there, the lads – Kyle, Pete and Kieran – headed to the mountains just outside Grenada, Spain, to their producer Martin ‘Youth’ Glover’s studio, Space Mountain.
And it was Youth, they reveal, who inspired the album’s title – as well as their own personal growth, of course.
Album made at the mountain of Youth
“There’s a running joke throughout because we recorded it all with our producer, Youth. So it’s like we were exorcising him as well as us,” explains Pete.
“But it also makes sense, because coming back we’ve all grown up a bit and are a bit more switched on.”
For Kyle, the chance to record in Spain was a youthful dream come true, and it’s clear he’s able to look back on his wilder days with an honest gaze.
“Years ago when we were making Bread and Circuses, we were supposed to be recording it in Spain,” he recalls. “But our label used to be like: ‘The View can’t be going to Spain, because they’re a pure riot’.
“Which is fair enough, because we probably would’ve been a riot and we wouldn’t have got any recording done!”
But having grown up a bit – and taken on new management – The View found themselves on the continent, having a recording experience unlike any they’d had before.
“Youth’s into shaman stuff and all that, so we were purging and – ” Kyle begins yelling in tongues “– chanting and stuff. It was pretty cool!
“Rather than just getting drunk in the studio, he’s more about getting into the spiritual side of things.”
“That lot did the mad chanting, I never did!” Pete quips. “Lighting sage and everything in the sauna… He’s a mad hippie, Youth, but he’s pretty chill. It was a good experience.”
Title track ‘first ever written all together’
And Kyle reveals that writing the album’s title track, Exorcism of Youth, was a different kind of “spiritual experience”, with the three members writing a song together from scratch for the very first time since they began making music together in 2005.
“When we decided to use that title for the album, me Pete and Kieran, for the first time ever, sat in a room and wrote the song, Exorcism of Youth,” Kyle recalls.
“We’ve never done that before. It’s always been that one of us have written it and then shown the others.
“So that was quite a spiritual experience when we were doing that, because we hadn’t seen each other, or been in the same room, in years. And it just rolled off the tongue, we all had lyrics in it.”
Soft spot for song written with Falconer’s daughter
Naturally the lads are proud of each and every track on the record, but along with Exorcism of Youth, Kyle holds a soft spot for a track which didn’t make the cut.
“There was a song called Big House that I wrote with my daughter,” he smiles. “That was my favourite, because of sentimental value.
“But nowadays, people have got the attention span of a goldfish. Gone are the days were you could do 16 songs on an album and get away with it!”
The Big House will be released on the Japanese version of the album, which Kyle says will usually have four or five extra tracks.
On the UK release, he favours the plaintive Woman of the Year, which he says was his way of “paying homage” to the women in his life.
“The majority of people in my life are women, and it’s always been that way,” he says, suddenly uncharacteristically solemn.
“Obviously Laura’s my main woman, and I’ve got my daughters.
“My two older sisters are my siblings but they’re also the ‘elders’ of my family, because my parents died when I was younger, so I’ve always kind of looked up to them.
“The last couple of years, these women were the people who looked out for me. So in my head, the song was just to say thanks to the women in my life, for dealing with all of my troubles and my woes all of these years, and still being here.”
For Pete, the top track is the chamber-like Shovel In His Hand.
“It just sounds cool,” he muses. “It’s got kind of choral vibes. It doesn’t really sound like something we would do, which I like.”
Europe trip has Kyle raring to go
Although it appears that they might have exercised Youth more than exorcised their own boisterous inner boys, The View have definitely grown up alongside the fan base which has rocketed them to success over the past couple of weeks.
For Kyle, that’s meant switching post-gig seshes with serene swims and wrangling little ones, as he’s spent the summer exploring Germany, Switzerland and Disneyland Paris with his young family in their camper van.
“I’ve toured all these places all my life, but you never really get the chance to explore them – it’s only the pub you see,” he confesses.
“So it was really good to see everywhere. My wee girl learned how ride her bike, and how to swim in a lake.
“Real memories are being made, it’s been beautiful. Now the album’s out – I’m ready to go, man!”
Exorcism of Youth by The View is currently available in stores and on all major streaming platforms.
Love and Chaos, the documentary following Kyle and Laura’s journey, can be watched on BBC iPlayer.
And the couple’s musical, No Love Songs, is playing at Dundee Rep until September 9.
