Guillemots go back to basics on new album

Mar 23 2008 Sunday Sun

WITH a name as outlandish as his, Guillemots’ frontman Fyfe Antony Dangerfield Hutchins was always likely to be famous.

The fact that he’s blessed with perfect pitch and an amazing knack of writing delicious pop songs also helped stack the cards in his favour.

Sitting on a beanbag in the middle of the band’s East London studio and wrapped in a huge coat and scarf, he most certainly doesn’t look like an archetypal rock star.

He explained: “It’s so cold in here. I’d put the heaters on but they make far too much noise and dust.”

It is cold, actually, freezing. But without these less-than-favourable temperatures, forthcoming album Red may have sounded very different.

Guillemots’ first album — Through The Windowpane — is a beautifully arranged collection full of string and brass sections and delicate melodies . . . not to mention a couple of glorious pop songs in the shape of Made Up Love Song #43 and Trains To Brazil.

To record Red, the four-piece turned their backs on comforts offered by luxury studios and took a long-term lease on their own studio in a gritty London district.

As a result, the album is much more sparse and industrial-sounding than its predecessor. Distorted, aggressive bass lines occupy many of the album’s songs, and death’s a recurring theme.

“Yes, a lot of it’s about death,” nodded Brazilian guitarist MC Lord Magrao, “But not in a negative way. I don’t think dying is the end of anything anyway.”

It’s then pointed out the most prominent theme on the album is the sky . . . nearly all 11 songs mention the heavens.

None of the band have noticed this, and the realisation comes as a bit of a shock.

“That’s a good point,” said Fyfe, visibly thinking through the lyrics. “It’s not intentional. I did have this thing a few months ago where I thought we should call the album Towers, which is a terrible name. I thought the songs were either about looking up, or falling down.”

Each of the songs is radically different from the explosive opener Kriss Kross.

Big Dog could be Rihanna’s next single, Get Over is a mass of synthesizers and scuzzy basslines, while the likes of Standing On The Last Star and Clarion will be more familiar to Guillemots fans of old.

The change of sound is also due to changes in the band. While the line-up is exactly the same as always, all four members of the band helped write Red.

And current single Get Over It is currently getting airplay. Radio play is something of a sore point for the band, however, after their most commercial-sounding song, Trains To Brazil, failed to set the airwaves alight. The band then made a rare concession and re-recorded their next single Annie Let’s Not Wait, which succeeded in getting them more exposure.

:: Red is released on Monday, March 24 and the band play Newcastle University on May 27.