sax, keyboards and backing vocals, Gbenga Adelekan on bass and vocals and Anna Prior on drums and vocals (plus the additional instrumental help of ex-member Gabriel Stebbing on this record) – it made sense to record in a more professional studio environment this time. Though the whole band were not always in the studio together for the whole time, Joe still seized the opportunity to really use the full line up to its maximum potential. “I thought ‘well, now I think it’s time you tried doing something to a
professional standard!’. There’d always be a kind of demo stage before, but I would never take that out of my bedroom so it was more this exercise in not finishing stuff because I’m so used to working at it until it’s done. A song like Everything Goes My Way, I had the full demo version and it was just a matter of taking it into the studio and re-recording it and making it sound better and then there’s other songs like The Bay that started as very basic demos and had
“I managed to draw some slightly skewed parallel with the American West Coast sound…. this sunny place where people make a very lush sort of music…”
to be finished completely in the studio. I didn’t even have lyrics for them.” Despite the temptation to utilise the studio to its limits , Joe found himself actually leaving some songs alone which led to The English Riviera sounding stripped back, exposed and somehow vulnerable. Of course, this feel is perfect for the themes the album was made to address and the individual sound of Metronomy itself. “It’s weird because I wanted to leave myself time to experiment and so the idea of allowing the studio to change the direction of a song was something I really wanted to do. The most obvious example would be (second single) The Look. It got to the point where I was like ‘well, you don’t really have to add
48 3pickup
any more’ and the demos actually had more going on! It was the opposite to (his usual method of) adding stuff.” Self-contained, confident and utterly brilliant; The English Riviera subtlety impacts with each song. The positive reaction to the LP sees Joe preparing for the full album-tour cycle when the rock industry machine kicks-in. “This is the first record where I’ve been fully aware of how much touring you do after you’ve made a record,” Joe admits, “So, it’s certainly prudent to bear that in mind,” says Joe, revealing his reluctance to compromise on the full-band live show. “Loads of people now use backing tracks because they’ve recorded orchestras or God knows what but I never wanted to do anything we couldn’t re-create live. That’s a very touring band thing. I’m sure when we stop touring, I can start making ridiculous, impossible to play music. The first album is impossible to play live anyway without a large amount of people so I’ve already done it!” To top off what has been “a very enjoyable year” for Metronomy is the nomination of The English Riviera for the Mercury Prize, a “nice piece of recognition” because of its reputation as a shortlist based around innovation and musical excellence as opposed to the usual motivation of commercial success. While this isn’t a strict rule, this year’s shortlist has a great deal of excellent albums including PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake, Everything Everything’s Man Alive, Ghostpoet’s Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam, as well as Adele’s commercially and critically successfully second album, 21. “It kinda makes the rest of the year a lot easier in a way because of the publicity it generates” Joe admits. “I think it’s quite an interesting mix and it certainly feels that, to be there in the same year that Adele’s here - and she’s had this phenomenal year - it’s quite nice really. It’s also been a good year for records and I guess a lot of people are confused as to why certain bands aren’t in there but I think because it’s been such a strong year, it makes it more of a surprise to be nominated.” Certainly, albums missing from the Mercury shortlist include a great deal of excellent electronic albums, Wild Beasts’ Smother and the first lack of nomination for Radiohead since 2000’s Kid A. It’s true, the past 12 months has seen a great deal of exciting albums across all genres, and the result is that Metronomy’s blend of disparate influences is garnering the kind of attention the accomplished Nights Out deserved two years ago. The album hit the Top 20 on the album charts, making it by far the most popular album Joe’s done. But rather than dwelling on the past, or even the present, Joe seems to be thinking ahead. “I think the next record will feel much easier for me because it’ll be the second time I’ve done it in a proper studio,” he says. “This one’s quite transitional but it’s important to make every record part of something.” As it is right now though, Joe’s quite prepared to keep growing up and
Metronomy’s output can only grow with him. If The English Riviera represents a transition to a new stage of maturity, as well as appreciating the follies of youth, then getting to grips with it will prove just as interesting for us as well as him. PM
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