Bluetones in brighter mood; As the Bluetones prepare for a brace of North Wales gigs, singer Mark Morris explains their change of direction to Chris Brown.

Byline: Chris Brown 

SOMETIMES,like your favourite blanket as a child,people grow out of things.

It's natural,it happens all the time,but rarely is it ever with such a dislike that The Bluetones wrenched themselves from their old record contract.

But with a new single,album and ridiculously long tour all planned over the next few months, the group is looking up.

Mark Morris, the singer, is the happiest he has been in a long while,especially now that the band's record company wrangle is out of the way. He is now looking towards the future,particularly a rather cryptically named LP.

``The new album is called Luxembourg. It's a great word for one thing,but there are plenty of reasons why. Luxembourg is just a really cool place and small as well, which is good,''Mark says,dodging the subject.

``You're always going to say that this is the best thing that you have ever done with each album that comes out. But if you listen to the new stuff, there is just a sense of relief to it.

``We were really happy when we recorded the album and it shows.

``We just didn't have any of the constraints that we had when we made the other albums. We could do exactly what we wanted to do.

``It's the most fun that we have had making an album.''

But what of the new tour which seems to include every place ever ventured by man?

``It's a massive tour, so we could go out there and have a great time or go completely crazy.

``But we really need to get out there and see the fans again. It's been a while, so we want to show that we are back doing exactly what we love.

``Out there we can enjoy what we love doing to as many people as possible.''

The band's fan base is very strong, with a crack group of the dedicated few who follow them everywhere. But with so many dates, they will be racking up the miles.

``They have been there through everything, so the least we can do is put out a great album and a gig they are going to remember.''

The group has always done its own thing rather than follow trends. When they first arrived to acclaim with Bluetonic in the mid-nineties, they didn't really fit into Britpop and now they certainly don't fit in with the new wave of rock.

This is all irrelevant,however, to the fans who live for the group. ``We came about from the whole Britpop thing but we were never really a part of that at all.That's why I think we have lasted this long.

``People put us in that hole when we started out because that was what was going on at the time.

``But now when you look back we had absolutely nothing to do with that and we don't have anything to do with any of the other scene now.''

The single Fast Boy/Liquid Lips is out April 21 and the band play Aberystwyth University on Tuesday and Central Station,Wrexham next Friday.

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``It's the most fun that we've had making an album,'' insists Mark Morris (third right)of the Bluetones