‘The Betrayed’ wasn’t an easy album to make though.   The work should have been released in May of 2007, but Lostprophets determination to do things right came at a cost, one that can be measured in both money and time.  The album was originally slated to be produced by John Feldmann – who in the past has worked with Good Charlotte and The Used, to name just two – and many months were spent holed up in Feldmann’s Bel Air studio trying to capture the songs the group had written.  Only thing was, their capture proved elusive and, unhappy with the work they’d recorded, Lostprophets decided to take the tunes and their unfinished album out of Bel Air, and to try and find something new.

The next idea was to work with Bob Rock, the man who had produced Metallica’s ‘Black Album’ as well as ‘Liberation Transmission’, the LP the Prophets were attempting to follow.   Again this proved complicated, and ultimately fruitless; although producer and artists did spend some time recording songs, ultimately Rock and rock band decided not to embark together fully on what would one day become ‘The Betrayed’.  Two up, two down.

Funnily enough, the man who was destined to produce ‘The Betrayed’ – properly produce it, that is, all the way to completion  – was known to the band all along.  In fact, he was in the band.  Step forward bass player Stuart Richardson, a man with muscles like Popeye, who as a child stood with his father on the picket lines during the miners’ strike of 1984 and 1985.  Sound unlikely?  Well, maybe in print.  Not if you listen to the music.

What did Stuart think when he was asked/told that he was producing an album that to date had been beset by nothing but problems?

“I thought Holy Shit,” he says. “I’ve got to follow Bob Rock, thanks a fucking lot. It was like following John Holmes in a dick-measuring contest.”

But seriously…

“I realised I had the lives of my friends in my hands. If the album failed it would be my fault, not theirs.   I was shaking even thinking about it.   But actually it turned out to be a pretty badass fucking moment.”

And a pretty badass fucking album, actually.  ‘The Betrayed’ may have suffered more delays than commuters at Christmas, but if a job is worth doing then it’s worth doing properly. To a man Lostprophets are agreed that if their fourth album wasn’t <<exactly>> to their liking then they wouldn’t have put their name to it, wouldn’t have released it.   How do you know that they’re telling the truth?   Because they spent a fortune on recordings they never used, that’s why.   Because they waited until they had what they wanted before asking the public that they lend their ears.

“People are gonna love this album,” says Ian Watkins. “I absolutely guarantee that. It’s taken some time to arrive but there was no way we were going to put something out that we didn’t love, and that we didn’t believe in. But this time we’ve got it right, and I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

‘The Betrayed’ was recorded in several locations and studios in Los Angeles, with a few false starts where the band scrapped various recordings with different producers. Eventually, a trip back to their native Wales and original rehearsal rooms in Cardiff saw the group re-invigorated and energised and on their return to the US things came together quickly. Bassist Stuart Richardson took on production and mixing duties (alongside Justin Hopfer with whom he’d previously worked with on Welsh rock act Attack Attack) for the first time and the band have created their most ambitious and accomplished album to date.

Lostprophets were formed in Pontypridd, South Wales, in 1997. Their line-up is Ian Watkins (vocals), Jamie Oliver (keyboards, turntables, vocals), Stuart Richardson (bass), Mike Lewis (guitars), Lee Gaze (guitars) and Luke Johnson (drums). The Betrayed, their fourth album, will be released in January 2010 through Visible Noise.

New Single 4th Janauary 2010: ‘WHERE WE BELONG’
New Album 18th January 2010: ‘THE BETRAYED’

Live: 2010

4 February LEICESTER, De Montfort Hall
6 February HULL, Ice Arena
7 February NOTTINGHAM, Rock City
9 February MARGATE, Winter Gardens
10 February PORSMOUTH, Guildhall
11 February LONDON, BRIXTON O2 ACADEMY
13 February DONCASTER, Dome
14 February LEEDS, O2 Academy
15 February CAMBRIDGE, Corn Exchange
17 February BIRMINGHAM, O2 Academy
18 February GLASGOW, Academy
19 February EDINBURGH, Corn Exchange
21 February YEOVIL, Westlands
22 February NORWICH, UEA
23 February NEWCASTLE, O2 Academy
25 February MANCHESTER, Apollo
26 February SOUTHAMPTON, Guildhall
28 February BRISTOL, O2 Academy
1 March PORT TALBOT, Afan Lido

Tickets are on sale now priced £22.50 - www.gigsandtours.com / 0871 2200 260