ELBOW
1 ,' tM‘
smoothing ottt the interesting bits. replacing experimentation with formula. eschewing genuine lyrical insight for easily digestible soundbites. and those are not things. frankly. that lilbow' are interested in.
‘I think this albtnn will define it for us.‘ says affable and gruff-Voiced singer (iuy (iaryey. ‘\\'e wanted to do a little bit of ey'erything we'd done before. and really" define what was different abottt how we approach thingsf
In fact. the question I asked hitn was if he felt any pressure to take that step up commercially. haying seen plenty of other bands oy'ertake lilbow in terms of sales. It's interesting to note that. without seemingly eyen realising. he answered the question in terms of musical
development. rather than the career side of
things.
"This titne. it was important that some of the songs had quite unique architecture.‘ he continues. ‘\\'e do write in many different ways and one of them is literally tnore like tnaking a building than writing a song. Sometimes we'll think of a noise. and then find an instrument that tnakes it. do it that way round. which is maybe a strange way of working. but it seems to work for us.‘
ll L‘L‘l‘litlltly clues. III/Iv Sch/Hm SUCH Kit/ is lilbow’s most rounded. varied and accomplished albtnn to date. a claim it would be difficult to make for many other contemporary bands on their fourth long player. lintirely' recorded. produced and mixed by the band themselyes at their own stttdio in Salford. it is perhaps that hermetically sealed enyironment which has given the record its intrinsic musical integrity.
‘\\'e'\'e been aiming at that since day one. to be honest.‘ says Garvey. ‘\\'ay back when we were lb or 17. we’ve always recorded oursely'es alongside writing the songs. This time around. we just took the reins ourselyes and off we went.'
That's not to say that the period of making the album wasn't frattght with problems. Those familiar with Elbows past will know that they have something of an unlucky history in the music business. Way back in l998 the band signed to Island Records and recorded a debut album. but before it could be released. Island was bought oy'er and the band was dropped in a widespread cull of artists. They then somehow managed to get signed by EM]. but were
22 THE LIST a“ 'yfa'—' 5 At" 3:59
‘EVERY TIME WE'VE FOUND OUT WE'VE BEEN DROPPED BY A LABEL WE'VE BEEN PLAYING FRISBEE'
dropped again within two months.
.-\fter a handful of lil’s appeared on .\lancunian indie label l'glyman around the turn of the century. they finally hooked up with V2 Records and actually managed to get an album ottt.
That album. .'\\/('('/’ in lllt' But-k. saw the light of day in 2()(ll. and won a Mercury nomination in the process. acting as a springboard for the band to ptrsh mitsical boundaries o\ er the next seyen years. But the band haye continued to be plagued by the fickleness of the industry and. true to form. as they worked on The Seldom Seen Kit]. their label was struggling to stay afloat.
'\\'e were trying desperately to get off V2 before it sank] says (iaryey. 'and we did. by about two weeks. Bi/arrely. the company that had been trying to sign its for two years bought V2 anyway. so there you go. So yeah. w e'ye had four major record deals and w e'ye had four albums. that's a full house. It‘s a bit fucking ridiculous. If he w asn't dead. l'd think Jeremy Beadle was waiting around the corner sometimes.‘
Guy Garvey. bottom left. and his Elbow bandmates have released their fourth and most rounded. varied and accomplished album to date. The Seldom Seen Kid
'l‘urns ottt. it's not the work of the deceased prankster. bttt the fault of a l‘l'lsl‘c‘c‘. \es. a l'f‘l\l‘c'c‘.
‘l)o you kttow about the l'l'l\l‘L‘c‘ thing." (laryey laughs. 'liyery tttne wow found ottt \\ C.\L‘ l‘L‘L‘ll tlt'ttl‘l‘ctl l‘} .t lttl‘c‘l. w C-\t‘ l‘L‘t‘fl playing l'risbee. l-iyery single time. .I\nd we don't eyett play that often. We certainly don’t now. anyway. .-\t a recently. ottr \tolm player had flown directly back from Barbados. .md not knowing about this superstition. she pulled one ottt the bag. and went to throw ll across the room. liyeryone iii the band shouted “.\'o.'"'
But they needn't haye worried. because their l’risbce-based curse seems to haye lifted for the moment. The band are now happily ensconced with new label l'iction. an imprint of l’olydor and. ironically. home to Snow Patrol among others. But ey en if they hadn't found a new label. the band haye used to the machinations of the music industry. that eyentually they iust let it wash oyer them. refusing to worry.
become so
'\\'e were freaking ottt again. then about halfway through making this record we inst thought. “luck it. it's going to come ottt somewhere"f says (iaryey. 'liyen if nobody wants to release it. w e'll _iust ptit it ottt free on the internet. it’ll find a home.’
'liliitl would‘ye lk‘c‘ft L|tlllc it llL‘Cl‘lL'. lk‘c‘itllsc The Sch/om Seen AM is sure to feature heay ily in “MRI music [il‘c‘ss c‘tttl til year pulls. Nztftlc‘tl lll honour of the band‘s late friend. singer- songwriter Bryan ('lancy. it's a record which lyrically deals with all the big stuff of life: death and mourning. birth and celeln‘ation. ambition. guilt. loye and loss. arid does so in a range of sounds and moods which eff‘ectiyely chucks out the 'epic rock' template.
Recent single '(irounds for l)i\orcc' is a weird l.ed '/.ep ('aiun chain-gang chant. while the beautifully touching ‘\\'eather to My is hypnotic and compulsiy‘e. and opener ‘Starlings' is an unsettling mix of trembling tension and alarming blasts of horns. 'l‘here's ey en a strangely haunting comedy duet with troubadour du iour Richard llawley about a pair of rogues fixing a horse race. .-\ccording to (iaryey. the eclecticism of lilbow‘s music these days is at least partly down to his job as a late night Sunday eyening l).l with Bl“. (i \lllslc‘.
'l haye a slot on the show w here I ask for suggestions for songs to play.‘ says (iary ey. ‘And we get :t lot of ()ltl lit/l. tiltl c‘ttllttlt'y atttl Americana. right through to scratchy old gospel and reggae. all sorts of stuff it‘s tttrned tne onto so much music. I‘m sure all that feeds into the songwriting process.‘
In the past. (iary'ey and the band haye shut lltetttscl\cs away from the world of music while recording. but not this time.
’l Used to fall out of line with contemporary mttsic when we were w riting.‘ admits (iaryey. '\\'hen we were in the thick of an album. I couldn't listen to a modern song without oyer- analysing. without analysing the snare sound or the guitar riff. but that doesn‘t happen anymore. I don't fall out of line with music anymore. becaUse I'm kind of not allowed to.'
Elbow play ABC, Glasgow, Fri 4 Apr.