- Wed, 2012-03-07 14:34
Last week I went across to a North London pub to meet with mackem power-quartet The Futureheads.
Known for their long-affecting blend of indie guitar stabs, direct melody and rich, tonal four part harmonies, the band were here to follow-up on a pretty bold announcement made late last year: they have put together an a cappela album. Rant.
All voices, no instruments, I'd first heard news of the record on 6Music. A couple of weeks later, I chatted to drummer Dave Hyde about Rant during a Hyde & Beast interview (Dave's psychedelic, blues led side project) and he raised expectations further still, telling us "on some of the songs there's like forty vocal tracks to a part, you know?"
The 12 song track list intrigues further with five re-worked Futureheads tracks, covers of Black Eyed Peas, Richard Thompson, Sparks and Kelis, plus three traditional English folk songs; Sumer Is Icumen In, The Keeper and The Old Dun Cow. Speaking of The Keeper, Barry told us;
"The Keeper is called a chorus song. So you've got that repition. The whole point is that, by the end of a folk song, if you do it right, everyone should be singing by the last chorus. We've always been about making our music a group event rather than an egotistical endeavour of 'stare at us and clap at us.'"
On that quite literal note, the band announced they'd be happy to give us a taster...
Released on 2nd April via their own label Nul Records, Ross told us how their last four albums have led them here:
"The whole time that we've been together has been building up to this really. The way that we write our music. It's always based around the harmonies. It's always based around the way that we sing together. So this is it really."
The full I Like Music interview with The Futureheads will go live on Monday 2nd April, coupled with a competition for a one of a kind Futureheads prize...
Listen to The Futureheads a capella re-work of Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway here and their own track Robot here
