Athlete
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Sitting in the back room of their Deptford local, Athlete are trying to explain the development their sound has made on ‘Tourist’, the quartet’s marvellous second album. ‘The last album was quirky pop. And it was good quirky pop,’ says Stephen (drums/vocals), no doubt to the agreement of the 250,000 fans who bought 2003’s ‘Vehicles And Animals’ and the judging panel that shortlisted it for the Mercury Award. ‘But we wanted to push ourselves further. We’ll always love good melodies’ agrees Joel (guitar/lead vocals). ‘But pop in itself wasn’t enough for this record.’
Instead, when Joel, Stephen, Carey (bass/vocals), and Tim (keyboards/vocals) began making plans for the new album in the latter half of 2003 they set themselves two goals. Goal number one was to increase the richness of their music. ‘We started playing each other records we love, working out what we appreciated about them and how we could bring that to our music, ‘ explains Joel. They decided, for example, that they cherished the simplicity of Massive Attack’s ‘Mezzanine’ (‘It evokes emotion by not doing very much’), the use of strings on Beck’s ‘Sea Change’ (‘They’re not just pasted in – there’s a point to them’) and the whole mood of the Flaming Lips’ ‘The Soft Bulletin’ (‘It’s just so big and bold and beautiful’). They also liked the balance that Neil Young achieves between a grand sound and a lyrical intimacy – which brings us to goal number two. ‘We said, “let’s get more personal on these songs”, ‘remembers Joel. ‘Let’s be more honest and open.’
But first they had to finish off almost two years of continuous touring in support of ‘Vehicles And Animals’. It had all begun with a debut gig to a handful of mates in a Deptford pub in March 2002 – the same month that their bouncing debut single ‘Westside’ was released. At that stage they hadn’t even finished writing ‘Vehicles And Animals’, let alone recording it, but the Deptford show set them on a path to success that would culminate almost 200 gigs later in January 2004 with a triumphant sell out date a few miles up the road at Brixton Academy.
Success came gradually but steadily over those 22 months, ‘We learnt to be patient,’ admits Tim. Athlete were never a particularly hyped band. Instead, as they played more gigs and released more singles, so their following grew. ‘I think we built up a fanbase in the way that bands did years ago,’ says Joel. ‘Rather than people being told to like us. People discovered us for themselves.’
Following the release of the album in April 2003, the summer of that year was a particularly fruitful time. Shortly after wowing the curious masses at both Glastonbury and T In The Park festivals with their euphoric live show, the band were delighted to find themselves nominated for the Mercury Award. Dizzee Rascal may have claimed the trophy that September, but Athlete were winners too – after the nomination, the album went from silver (60,000) to gold (100,000) in the space of two weeks. And then it just kept on selling. ‘I think there’s an underdog waiting to be discovered by the Mercury every year, ’says Steve, ‘and that year it was us. ‘By the time we played V at the end of the summer it seemed that everyone knew the record,’ says Joel. ‘There was this massive crowd of about 20,000 people all singing along.’
Further touring followed throughout Europe, before the Brixton show rounded things off in a suitably jubilant style. Afterwards, the band took a week off before heading straight into the studio to start work on the album they had such clear plans for. ‘The touring had been great, ‘ says Stephen, ‘but by then we were absolutely itching to get on with making the next record’.
Recorded in Sussex and London and mixed in New York, the result is ‘Tourist’, an Album which , happily, more than matches the band’s ambitions. Like ‘Vehicles And Animals’ it’s bursting with glorious guitar-pop hooks, but newfound confidence means it packs a solid, emotional punch right from the off, as opening song ‘Chances’ builds to its rousing chorus on a wave of piano, soft electro flourishes and crescendos of epic strings.
Whilst in the studio the band and producer, Victor Van Vugt, constantly challenged each other on the direction each song should take. They knew the songs had to have good melodies but a touch of something special was needed too. That’s why ‘Tourist’ is full of subtle sonic swerves. The aching ‘Half Light’ veers smoothly into a flutes ‘n’ beats breakdown, a spirited gospel choir leads us to the end of the uplifting ‘If I Found Out’, ‘Modern Mafia’s snappy strut is built upon sleighbells and the soft-centred final track ‘I Love’ ends in a gentle flurry of electro bleeps. It’s as sonically rich as they’d hoped for.
And, just as they’d planned, the album’s lyrics glow with an openness and honesty. ‘This record reflects our real experiences,’ says Joel. ‘A lot of it’s about enjoying being away on tour, doing amazing things, but missing people at home and figuring out how to keep relationships going.’ ‘It’s dark in places and it faces some harsh realities,’ ands Carey, ‘but at the same time it is beautiful, hopeful and uplifting’.
He’s not wrong. The band’s powerful first single, ‘Wires’ is the perfect case in point. Although not a comfortable subject to talk about, Joel admits the song concerns a harrowing experience. ‘It’s about a moment when you feel like you could lose somebody you really love,’ he says. ‘But the feeling of relief when you realise they are going to be alright’.
Not surprisingly, the band are enormously pleased with the album. ‘We started out with an aim of making it rich and honest , and we feel like we’ve achieved that way beyond our expectations,’ says Joel. ‘We wanted this record to have soul,’ agrees Stephen. ‘Y’know, to have that ability to move you. And I think it does.’
Tim, a man of few words, nods his head. ‘We put everything we could into this album and it really came together. I honestly think it’s taken us to the next level.’ He grins a broad infectious grin. ‘And I know that in 20 years I’m still going to be massively proud of it.