News
Manchester band of brothers THE MAPLE STATE are delighted to announce that their new album, Don’t Take Forever, will be released on 7th November 2025.
The first body of new material from the band since their second album The Things I Heard At The Party in 2018, forthcoming album Don’t Take Forever will be the first release from the recently-reunited original line up in two decades.
To celebrate the news, the quartet are streaming lead single ‘Settle Down’ today on all good streaming services, along with revealing an official music video for the track. With a ‘90s, Longpigs-esque grunge attitude channeled into their sound by producer Drew Farrer, the track ends on a fuzzed-out, Pinkerton-era Weezer crescendo.
Commenting on the single, front man Greg Counsell says: “I spent much of my early twenties on tour with the band, then I went to university, then I got into wildlife conservation and travelled a lot, and at some point I became obsessed with Warren Zevon and partied a lot…and then one day I realised I was 35 and all my friends were married with children and houses and I was no closer to having an adult, grown up relationship than I was at 18. I had spent my life in a series of doomed relationships, and the chorus of this song could almost be applied to the first stages of any of them. It’s a song that sits somewhere between hope, despair and self-mockery.”
In September 2008 after a Manchester hometown show, the band walked off stage not knowing it would be 13 years before they were all in the same room again. Then, in 2020, original drummer John Goodwin was working on a solo record with long-time producer and friend Drew Farrer. Greg showed up at Drew’s studio to pick up a guitar and was surprised to find himself face-to-face with his old best friend.
“Although I’d already laid down drums for Settle Down, it wasn’t until a few weeks later that all four of us finally got the chance to be in the studio together at the same time,” says Goodwin of the reunion. “With each of us living in different parts of the world, there was a rare window in July 2021 to meet at Drew’s, reconnect, and add some extra layers to a few tracks. It had probably been about 15 years since the four of us were last in a studio creating together, so I turned up full of anticipation and excitement.”
“From day one I knew ‘Settle Down’ was a keeper,” says Counsell of their revived songwriting partnership. “Once I played it to John he sat with it for 2 minutes and then played through the song once, then said ‘yep, I’m ready’—his second take is on the album. It was unbelievable, my fears were immediately allayed. His drumming is so clever, you listen and think it’s simple, but he plays drums in such a compositional way, it’s fundamental to the progression of the songs. This was one of the earliest sessions we did together, and having been so long since we’d recorded music together I was just in awe of him and how much he has developed and grown as a songwriter over the years.”
Earlier this summer, the quartet celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of their 2005 debut album At Least Until We’ve Settled In with two special sold out celebration shows. The record has since become a cult favourite and cultural touchstone for a generation of artists who followed, including The 1975’s Matty Healy, who recently named the album in his list of all time favourites.
