Southampton indie rockers Regent have a new single out called The Beautiful Game, and it finishes off a trilogy of football songs. It's on Marquee Records/Universal Music, with radio play starting now and streaming from 13 November.
The story so far: last December the band played St Mary's Stadium, Southampton FC's ground, in front of 32,000 fans, to launch their Southampton anthem Be In That Number. Then in May this year came The Best Of Things, their ode to the England football team's World Cup journey. Now The Beautiful Game rounds things off.
The press release says that at a time when football is in the news for the wrong things, Regent want us all to remember that, money and corruption aside, it's still the game millions of fans worship every week. The track is described as an indie anthem that builds and builds, with the band's signature driving guitars and thought-provoking lyrics.
A band that goes from playing in front of 32,000 people at their home club's ground to writing a song for the national team, and then a third one for the sport itself, is doing something properly different with its football fandom. I'm happy to back Regent on this one, and the whole trilogy idea makes it an easy one to point people towards.
Regent have been at it for a while. Their debut album Just A Revolution came out in 2022, followed quickly by the Believe EP and a run of headline shows, festival slots and support slots with acts like Reverend & The Makers. The second album, Beggars Belief, arrived in 2024 and included the singles Flying High, Liberation, Oh No, I Know and the title track. A third album, The Cognitive Revolution, is due in 2026, with more news promised soon.
The line-up is Ben Rooke (vocals), Chris Woolf (lead guitar), Ed Cesar (rhythm guitar), Luke Trundell (bass) and Chris Blackman (drums).
More from the band: https://regentrockbandofficial.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/regentrockband/