“If you keep working hard, you can get people’s interest”: How Acres are taking over

Ben Lumber is fatigued. Sitting in the back of a van, occasionally vaping for a bit of pep, he reflects upon a whirlwind 18 months in which his band Acres’ collective feet haven’t touched the ground.

“It’s a lot to take in,” the singer ponders. “But I’m happy with what we’ve achieved.”

It’s little wonder the tiredness is setting in. The Porstmouth metalcore quartet have been touring North America since March, starting out with a jaunt in support of The Plot In You. They’re currently out with The Devil Wears Prada, taking in smaller towns they haven’t visited before, ending in Charleston, South Carolina the evening we speak to the vocalist. And after that, they’ll be jumping on board two dates with Beartooth, necessitating a 13-hour drive through Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, to the first of the shows in Shreveport, Louisiana.

You’ll hear no complaints from Ben, though, or his bandmates (guitarists Alex Freeman and Ash Scott, and bassist Jack Rogers). That’s because this is exactly what they've worked towards. Acres formed in 2011, taking their collective love of Saosin and Thrice, as well as punk and pop, to craft their own exhilaratingly melodic brand of metalcore. When Ben first thought about life as a musician, he had a handful of goals he wanted to achieve. The first was to tour, which has long since been accomplished, with Acres steadily building an ardent fanbase in the UK – with a notable upswing in their popularity beginning last year.

The next goal was to make an album in America, which they ticked off with their most recent effort, The Host. Released at the start of May, it was made in Detroit under the watchful eye and attuned ear of The Plot In You's Landon Tewers.

“Landon is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met,” marvels Ben. “He didn’t leave his computer from the time we arrived in the studio until the time we finished. The cool thing is that no idea got thrown away.”

That opposition to wasting material was somewhat necessary. Unlike the band’s first two albums, the critically acclaimed Lonely World (2019) and Burning Throne (2023), both of which had been meticulously demoed before work began in earnest, The Host saw the boys take a leap into the unknown, starting out with practically nothing, save for half of an instrumental demo and a desire to explore darker subject matter. Admittedly, there were some last-minute jitters about this approach.

“There was a point on the flight to Detroit when I remember thinking, ‘Oh my god – I don’t know if we can do this,’” admits Ben, before suggesting mixing things up is consistent with the Acres ethos. “We’ve always said we want to evolve. Going in with no plan forced us to be as creative as possible and see what happens. We want to make different records with different sounds, different moods. It’s always cool when a band has a record for whatever mood you’re in. What mood haven’t we covered? We haven’t done happy songs yet!”

The Host certainly hasn’t corrected that omission, as in places it’s Acres’ moodiest and heaviest opus yet – both musically and thematically.

“Bloodlust was one of the first tracks we finished tracking in the studio, which totally set the pace for the record,” Ben says of the pulsating opening track and first single from an album that has a central concept, of sorts, that the songs have in common. “The Host, in the context of the record, is anything that you can’t let go of – whether that’s love, drugs, alcohol. We wanted to portray the fact that everyone has that host, something that’s holding on to them.”

Meanwhile, Landon introduced Acres to an embryonic composition he already had, which would go on to become their poppiest effort to date, Around Again, illustrating the versatility and open-mindedness the band are capable of.

“I wasn’t sure Around Again was going to fit on the record stylistically, but I was determined to make it work,” Ben admits. “I remember waking up at the Airbnb we were staying at around four in the morning with all these ideas, so I stayed up, demoing and writing the whole thing. It still nearly didn’t make the cut, but I’m glad it did, as it’s one of my favourites on the album.”

Meanwhile, whether the tunes are manic or mellow, on The Host they’re embellished with newfangled electronic elements that will appeal to fans of Bad Omens. In terms of career inspiration, however, it’s Orange County post-hardcore favourites Dayseeker that Ben cites as an example he takes his cues from.

“Dayseeker have been grinding for years and are finally getting the recognition they deserve,” says Ben. “There were times when we thought we should start a new band because things weren’t happening for us. It’s inspiring to see that you don’t have to be a brand-new band to get people excited. If you keep working hard, you can get people’s interest, which thankfully happened for us.”

Thankfully, Ben’s third and final dream was to tour the U.S., which he’s currently doing with exhaustive dedication, winning over new fans every night.

“Being an opener on tour is tough,” he says. “But to be two songs into your set and seeing circle-pits suddenly open up never stops being wild…”

The Host is out now via Solid State / Tooth & Nail

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