Archives for May 2011

I can’t believe I’m nearly halfway through my Thursday night 11pm series on BBC Radio 2 looking back at some of the big dance tunes over the last 40 years.

It’s been enormous fun digging through my old 12” Jazz Funk and Disco collection and finding records scattered around my house that haven’t been out of their record sleeves for over 30 years. Sure it’s been a battle deciding which ones make it into such a short programme and yes, some of those old records have made me a little misty-eyed. Unlike some DJs who have kept their records indexed, colour-coded and computer-logged with military precision I have to hold my hands up to confess I fall into the category of being a bit rubbish at looking after my records, so many ended up in the wrong sleeves, beer stained, scratched, turned into ashtrays or warped through bad storage and so I was secretly quite proud to discover, amidst my chaos, pristine 1979 copies of records like Harry Thumann Underwater and be able to give them a spin.

I’ve greatly enjoyed hearing people’s reminiscences of clubbing over the decades and the DJs they followed, so thanks to everyone who’s been in touch so far.

This week we’ve reached a pivotal moment in dance music history with the arrival of House music from America in the mid to late 80s. Like the early days of disco, the energy and sense of optimism in this new music helped reinvigorate UK nightlife and introduce a new generation to the dance floor.

On last week’s programme Frankie Knuckles, the man credited with inventing House music, told us about the music that had inspired and influenced him. This week we’re joined by Marshall Jefferson another American DJ legend who made and produced early Chicago House classics. So the beat speeds up again after slowing right down in the early 80s and the UK is about to go dance crazy!

If the late 80s were your era I’d love to hear about the clubs you visited and your memories of that time. If you joined us early in the series looking at Disco and Jazz Funk and Soul, find out how those early records influenced and shaped the sound of House music as a new generation of clubbers and DJs invaded the UK’s dance floors.

Over the next few weeks as we head into the Rave era and the early 90s it’s fascinating to see how British producers, artists and DJs reshape this music from America and turn the tables. Soon America loses its crown and the UK is the catalyst for dance music around the world - and I can’t wait to play some of those records for you.

DJ Dave Pearce

I'd love to hear from you, you can drop me a line at [email protected], follow me on twitter @dj_davepearce or join my facebook group.

BBC Album Reviews Editor Mike Diver guides you through some of the acts who will be hoping to make the shortlist for this year's Mercury Prize...

The deadline for labels and the like to enter records for this year's Mercury Prize has passed - so if you've not submitted your latest long-player yet, best not to bother. The shortlist for the annual award won't be announced until July, but the cut-off for entries gives us an opportunity to look over some of the contenders. In other words, we've an excuse to revisit some of the very best British and Irish albums of the past 12 months. And who are we to pass up such a delightful way to spend an afternoon...

So, here are some of the finest albums (listed alphabetically) from domestic acts to have come out since The xx won the Mercury in 2010. If some make the list of 12, we'll be very happy indeed.

Adele - 21

(Released January 2011)

Well, this one needs little introduction. Adele's second album has dominated the UK albums chart since its release, its supremacy only now threatened by a certain Lady Gaga. The singer's debut, 19, made the Mercury shortlist in 2008 - can her new release go one better?

BBC review

Watch the video to Rolling in the Deep (YouTube link)

Admiral Fallow - Boots Met My Face

(Released March 2011)

Brilliant indie-folk from north of the border, recorded at Glasgow's celebrated Chem 19 studio, this debut set from Admiral Fallow is perhaps the closest any act has come, so far, to capturing the magic of The Delgados - who were nominated for their album The Great Eastern back in 2000. An outsider for a place on the shortlisted 12, certainly, but this is a great LP which deserves a bigger audience.

BBC review

Watch Admiral Fallow performing on the BBC Introducing Stage at T in the Park 2010 (YouTube link)

And So I Watch You From Afar - Gangs

(Released May 2011)

Instrumental mightiness from Northern Ireland, ASIWYFA have been collecting fans on the underground for several years, but their new album represents a real step forwards for the Belfast-based four-piece. Gangs comes recommended by Zane Lowe, who tends to know a thing or two about decent rock music. It might not have any lyrics, but when the music's this vivid they're hardly missed.

BBC review

Watch the band performing Think:Breathe:Destroy live (YouTube link)

Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi

(Released January 2011)

Anna Calvi was the first artist from the BBC's Sound of 2011 shortlist (of 15 - visit the homepage) to release an album in 2011, and it was an immediate critical success. That it broke into the UK top 40 shows that it's not only journalists who were swayed by her powerful singing and guitar prowess. With fans including Nick Cave and Brian Eno on her side, Calvi was never likely to disappear from the limelight as quickly as she arrived, and a Mercury nod would be further confirmation of her continuing appeal.

BBC review

BBC interview

Watch the video to Blackout (YouTube link)

Arctic Monkeys - Suck It and See

(Released June 2011)

Winners of the Mercury in 2006 for their debut album, and shortlisted the year after for their Favourite Worst Nightmare follow-up, could 2011 see the Sheffield indie titans (pictured, below) add a third nomination to their impressive list of achievements? Reports regarding their fourth LP are mixed so far, and the singles haven't been as strong as those from past collections - but never underestimate the power of the Monkeys. Suck It and See will surely be a commercial success, whatever the critical verdict.

Watch the video to Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair (YouTube link)

Bellowhead - Hedonism

(Released October 2010)

With their live sets steadily becoming the stuff of folk legend, this multi-member collective founded by Jon Boden and John Spiers could be a surprise package in 2011's shortlist. They offer a contemporary twist on folk tradition, with some 20 instruments used and no fewer than six vocalists coming to the fore. Lively is an understatement. They've been stars on their own circuit for a while, and Hedonism's great reception (and chart placing, peaking well inside the UK top 100) could see them striding from niche audiences into far wider recognition.

BBC review

Watch Bellowhead performing Cross-Eyed and Chinless (YouTube link)

James Blake - James Blake

(Released February 2011)

Another artist to have appeared on the BBC's Sound of 2011 list, ranked second behind Jessie J, James Blake's transition from dubstep upstart to pop experimentalist seems to be complete, his eponymous debut going out of its way to sever ties with anything nearing conventional dubstep motifs. An ambient treasure, this album was a bit hit with the critics around its release - but has its lack of obvious singles damaged Blake's longer-term prospects? Perhaps, but a Mercury nod would certainly help attract more fans.

BBC review

Watch the video to Lindisfarne (YouTube link)

Bring Me the Horizon - There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep it a Secret

(Released October 2010)

Metal rarely matters at the Mercury - although Biffy Clyro's place on the shortlist last year suggests that maybe the judging panel is coming around to heavier sounds. If so, the ambitious third album from British metalcore outfit Bring Me the Horizon could represent in 2011 for the more raucous end of the musical spectrum. Topping domestic rock and indie charts when it was released in October 2010, There Is a Hell... showcases a young British talent trying to expand their sonic palette, and doing so successfully.

BBC review

Watch the video to Blessed With a Curse (YouTube link)

The Burns Unit - Side Show

(Released August 2010)

More acoustic-ish indie/folk loveliness from Scotland, this lot feature King Creosote and Emma Pollock amongst their ranks. Side Show is a wonderfully conceived, superbly consistent affair, its production tight and its performances exemplary. It's further proof of a burgeoning new folk scene operating just below the mainstream in the UK, one where collaboration isn't a means to split royalties on a chart hit, but a way of furthering an individual artist's abilities.

BBC review

Watch a mini-documentary on The Burns Unit (YouTube link)

Kate Bush - Director's Cut

(Released May 2011)

Old songs done differently: not necessarily a recipe for critical success, but Kate Bush has reinvented material from her The Sensual World and The Red Shoes albums in a style that sets them truly apart from the originals. Granted, some fans have been less than impressed - but few can doubt that Bush's new release isn't the work of an artist still full of inspiration.

BBC review

Watch the video to Deeper Understanding (YouTube link)

Eliza Carthy - Neptune

(Released May 2011)

Nominated in 1998 for her album Red Rice and again in 2003 for Anglicana, fiddle player and vocalist Eliza Carthy is no stranger to the Mercury. A multi-award winner at the BBC Folk Awards over the years, she's a bright star shining over her musical world - but the Mercury is yet to pick a folk artist as its winner. That said, Neptune is far from a standard folk album, taking cues from myriad sources to wind up a very varied, but superbly realised and immediately engaging, set of uncommon class.

BBC review

Watch Eliza Carthy performing (Britain is a) Car Park live (YouTube link)

Cat's Eyes - Cat's Eyes

(Released April 2011)

A collaboration between Brit Faris Badwan and Canadian Rachel Zeffira (a couple personally and professionally), Cat's Eyes (pictured, below) is one of the more unusual collaborations of the year so far, combining 60s girl-group harmonising with some wonderful ethereality and just a smidgen of gothic grandeur. Their eponymous album is a woozy delight, clocking in at under half an hour but delivering a fuller experience than many a longer set. Badwan has been shortlisted before, in 2009 as a member of The Horrors. But a shortlist spot for Cat's Eyes would undoubtedly be sweeter still.

BBC review

Watch the video to I Knew It Was Over (YouTube link)

Chase & Status - No More Idols

(Released January 2011)

The dance duo who set Plan B on the road to stardom when they used his vocals on their top ten single End Credits, Chase & Status are steadily playing catch-up on the UK soul sensation in terms of sales. Although Plan B's The Defamation of Strickland Banks failed to make the Mercury shortlist in 2010, No More Idols is popular with the bookies to make a mark on 2011's prize. It has divided the critics - a 1/10 score in NME; a near-perfect write-up from The Independent - but Chase & Status are slowly becoming superstars themselves. And a place amongst the Mercury runners and riders would add some significant critical kudos to their current commercial success.

BBC review

Watch the video to Blind Faith (YouTube link)

The Count & Sinden - Mega Mega Mega

(Released August 2010)

More domestic dance producers here, but where Chase & Status invite established pop presences to sing on their songs, this pair has always had an eye on the underground. So, instead of Plan B and Cee-Lo Green, here we have rappers Rye Rye and Trackademicks and the summery indie-pop sounds of Mystery Jets. Arguably, it has produced far better results: the contributions complement the productions, rather than stealing away the spotlight. The one instance where this might not be the case: Katy B's turn on Hold Me. The London singer's rise to the upper echelons of the pop scene has been remarkable, but well earned. That The Count & Sinden spotted her talent at such an early stage is proof of their well-tuned collective ear.

BBC review

BBC interview

Watch the video to Addicted to You (YouTube link)



Darkstar - North

(Released October 2010)

Now signed to Warp, Darkstar are moving in the same direction as James Blake: away from the dubstep scene that first embraced them and into more adventurous, texturally dynamic territories. North, the group's debut LP, was a strange release for Hyperdub to tackle on paper; but its mix of 80s synth-pop, soulful vocals and enrapturing beats has proved most addictive. Perhaps they can repeat Burial's feat of 2008, and register a second Mercury nomination for the highly influential London label operated by Steve 'Kode9' Goodman.

BBC review

Watch the video to Gold (YouTube link)

Dels - Gob

(Released May 2011)

Hip hop at the Mercury has, a handful of exceptions aside, largely been represented by just two acts: Roots Manuva and Dizzee Rascal. But the emergence of Dels and Ghostpoet (words on him a little further down there) is sure to challenge this would-be duopoly - both are phenomenally talented artists, offering original spins on tried-and-tested formulas. Gob is a riveting listen, intense and intelligent, standing left-of-centre but delivering memorable truths on a spread of subjects both universal and deeply personal. There's great production here, too, from the likes of Kews and Micachu. He might bemoan the daily grind now, but recognition from the Mercury would surely see those days fading from Dels' memory.

BBC review

Watch the video to Trumpalump (YouTube link)

Kit Downes Trio - Quiet Tiger

(Released March 2011)

A jazz release has never triumphed at the Mercury, but having been nominated once before - just last year, for Golden - Kit Downes is well-placed to make that breakthrough for his chosen genre. A greater sense of experimentation seeps forth from Quiet Tiger, Downes evidently eager to expand upon what he achieved an album earlier. The way instruments are weaved together is quite remarkable, and if any jazz album stands a chance at this year's Mercury, this one has to be among the front-runners. And if not, perhaps another nominee-past? Led Bib's Bring Your Own brims with newfound vigour, which could yet propel its makers to another shortlist spot.

BBC review

Watch Kit Downes Trio performing Skip James live (YouTube link)

Dutch Uncles - Cadenza / Everything Everything - Man Alive

(Released April 2011 / August 2010)

A set of zippy indie anthems from Manchester, Dutch Uncles' second album is a masterpiece of befuddling motifs and monstrous hooks - though they never abandon their underlying pop tendencies for a bit of overly clever-clever composition. A trove of unexpected turns, Cadenza is a captivating listen which surprises with some regularity. It's comparable in design to Everything Everything's Man Alive LP of August 2010 - which could also be in the running for a shortlist space, especially since the band (again, from Manchester) recently earned Ivor Novello nominations in the categories of Best Album and Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

BBC review

Watch the video to Cadenza (YouTube link)



Brian Eno with Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams - Small Craft on a Milk Sea

(Released November 2010)

Eno could feature on the Mercury shortlist twice - his new album, with poet Rick Holland, is due out at the start of July. But if he does take a spot as one of this year's nominees, it's likely to be for his collaboration with composer Jon Hopkins (responsible for soundtracking the film Monsters in 2010) and guitarist Leo Abrahams. Something of a love-letter to his own ambient work of the 1970s during its quieter passages, Small Craft... is a smooth listen which only finds ripples spreading across its surface when guest musicians make their presences felt. But while it's relatively unremarkable compared to the best of Eno's catalogue, there's no doubt this can transport the listener away from the everyday with ease.

BBC review

Frankie & The Heartstrings - Hunger

(Released February 2011)

Sometimes, fun is enough. This debut from Sunderland five-piece Frankie & The Heartstrings won't win any awards for originality, but its infectious energy spreads as if uncontrollable. A little Dexys, a little Orange Juice, and a little Futureheads: it's a great gumbo of pop-rockin' sounds of the past and present, and sure to leave a smile on any face. Should the Mercury panel need a pick-me-up, this fits the bill perfectly.

BBC review

Watch the video to Hunger (YouTube link)

Friendly Fires - Pala

(Released May 2011)

Again, Pala isn't a record that overflows with fresh ideas. Instead, its makers - already nominated for the Mercury once, for their eponymous debut, in 2009 - have worked on refining the best elements of their sound to date. So, Pala is all summery vibes, tropical percussion and sing-along vocals. It's about as difficult a listen as Velcro is a complicated means of tightening up your shoes, and the band's cross-demographic (and generation) appeal means they're certain to tick the panel's populist boxes.

BBC review

Watch Friendly Fires performing Live Those Days Tonight live (YouTube link)

Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam

(Released February 2011)

Perhaps the most striking new voice in British hip hop to have surfaced since the rise of Roots Manuva, Ghostpoet's (pictured, above) maudlin musing about this, that and the other might sound duller than dishwater on paper - getting drunk here, doing better for yourself there. But the reality of this record is way better than any expectations could have been set for, understated production emphasising the genuine ache and emotion in our protagonist's voice. The new Mike Skinner? Oh, please - this fellow is better already, with just one album under his belt. If Ghostpoet wins in 2011, this writer will feel that the right decision's been made.

BBC review

BBC interview

Watch the video to Survive It (YouTube link)



Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner

(Released October 2010)

Despite his superb critical standing, Four Tet has never featured on a Mercury shortlist. But the comparable sound of Gold Panda could nail that achievement at the first time of asking, the Germany-based Brit's debut already picking up the Guardian's First Album award in January. It's a really engrossing work, skittering from propulsive percussion to introspective ambience, via scratchy samples and an overall feeling of lo-fi warmth. It's as if it wasn't constructed on a screen at all, but by a secretive band of brothers playing arcane instruments from a dusty parallel dimension. All in all, it's a slice of solid-gold wonderfulness.

BBc review

Watch the video to Marriage (YouTube link)

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

(Released February 2011)

One of the early favourites at the bookies to take this year's prize, PJ Harvey's latest is a powerful collection of war-inspired songs which lingers with the listener long after the record's faded to silence. It's an album that falls in and out of love with England, too - every step is taken warily, caution conveyed through another singularly brilliant performance from Harvey, a singer who seems to grow in confidence and range as she gets older. A winner in 2001, Harvey doesn't need the Mercury to boost her sales or reputation - but should she win in 2011, it will be for what is perhaps the most challenging album of her career.

BBC review

Watch the video to The Words That Maketh Murder (YouTube link)

The Horrors - Skying

(Released July 2011)

If the third studio set from The Horrors makes the cut-off point for 2011's Mercury (I think it does: it's scheduled for 11 July), then it stands a good chance of making the final 12 given their last album, the excellent Primary Colours, was one of the best LPs shortlisted for 2009's Mercury. This one's lead single, Still Life, manages to sound like Simple Minds without sending the listener running to the hills. Some achievement.

XL Recording's 'video' for Still Life (YouTube link)

The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar

(Released January 2011)

Big riffs, big choruses, big production: yep, The Big Roar is big alright. The Welsh trio have existed at the edges of the mainstream for a while - but a major label release for this debut has given the indie-rockers the support needed to truly take their anthems to the biggest-possible audiences. It's a tremendous statement of intent, bursting with confidence - but perhaps this year's Mercury is a little too early for them, as the prolonged gestation of this set has led to a little inconsistency. Album two could be the one that really flies.

BBC review

Watch the video to Whirring (YouTube link)

Katy B - On a Mission

(Released April 2011)

A pop star for the post-dubstep market, Katy B's ascension from guest singer to spotlight-hogging headliner has been rapid, but she deserves her crack at the top of the charts when her solo material is as gripping as what's presented on this debut. Measured melodies, wonderfully flexible vocals and delivering the sense that this is just the beginning of a beautiful career, On a Mission is one of 2011's best dance long-players, of any sub-genre. The girl (pictured, below) could sing the phone directory to a rudimentary beat and it'd still be worth moving to.

BBC review

Watch the video to Broken Record (YouTube link - contains flashing lights)

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine

(Released March 2011)

One of those quiet albums one expects little from at the outset, Diamond Mine soon gets under the skin and stays there forever. A tender collection of reflection, King Creosote (aka Kenny Anderson) sings with the broken-down resignation of a man certain that his fate is set in stone - and it's against those stones he's about to be dashed. But there's hope, too - as the album closes, Your Young Voice looks not to the past but to the future, to the next generation and their dreams. You might just shed a tear.

BBC review



Kode9 + The Spaceape - Black Sun

(Released April 2011)

A menacing darkness creeps across this second collaboration between the Hyperdub founder and vocalist The Spaceape - Black Sun is not a record to put on when the desire to shake one's money-maker takes hold. Think more along the lines of Leftfield trapped in Lee "Scratch" Perry's Black Ark with the reggae legend already holding the matches. It seems to exist out of time, in a space unoccupied by any other album in 2011, neither in the present nor a relic from the past. But what it does pack is bass, so expect Mercury judges swayed by this release to be nursing sore heads come the shortlist's announcement.

BBC review

The Leisure Society - Into the Murky Water

(Released May 2011)

This is pop, readers, but not as most know it. Literate fare from the collective fronted by former Telescopes man Nick Hemming, Into the Murky Water is the second album from The Leisure Society and as English as a rainy caravan holiday. Think Belle and Sebastian with a card for every library on these shores, or The Divine Comedy without those slightly snarky undertones. It's as honest a record as you'll hear in 2011, and as indebted to its country of origin as the work of Wild Beasts and British Sea Power. Having already earned Ivor Novello nominations for their debut album The Sleeper, The Leisure Society could take another step into mainstream acceptance by popping up on the Mercury's final 12.

BBC review

Watch the video to This Phantom Life (YouTube link)



Let's Wrestle - Nursing Home

(Released May 2011)

Speaking of literate pop, how about an indie-rock trio whose latest work is described, on these here BBC webpages, as more Philip Larkin than Mark E. Smith? That's Let's Wrestle in a nutshell - a nutshell that shakes to the sound of lo-fi US acts like Sebadoh and Guided By Voices, albeit with a wit that's oh-so-very English courtesy of frontman Wesley Patrick Gonzales. Musically there's not much to write home about here - and that can be said of any Let's Wrestle release to date. But the sparkling lyricism warrants investigation, and Nursing Home's critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic might just spur the Mercury panel into proffering it some profile-raising attention.

BBC review

Watch the video to In Dreams Part II (YouTube link)

Magnetic Man - Magnetic Man

(Released October 2010)

Dubstep super-group Magnetic Man were one of the highest-profile new artists to emerge in 2010, the combined talents of Skream, Artwork and Benga always likely to get pulses racing in clubs the world over. But importantly for all concerned, this music isn't made exclusively for those whose weekend routine revolves around a night of revelry in some city-centre sweat-box - Magnetic Man's sights have always been on the biggest crowds, and this is truly dance music for the masses, capable of filling stadiums as easily as it can pump forth from PAs in the tightest of spaces. Either way, brains are going to rattle.

BBC review

BBBC interview

Watch the video to Getting Nowhere (YouTube link)

Metronomy - The English Riviera

(Released April 2011)

Joseph Mount and friends' third album is a delightful journey down memory lane, back to the Metronomy mainman's upbringing in Devon, via the springy beats of contemporary clubland and the ambient washes of stateside chillwave. Bucolic yet boisterous, capable of spilling sunlight across any gloomy skyline, The English Riviera (its makers, pictured below) is a restless ride into the mind of a man whose musical vision is far from solidified - and may it continue to morph for the foreseeable future.

BBC review

Watch the video to The Look (YouTube link)

Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

(Released February 2011)

Scottish post-rockers Mogwai have been critical darlings since the dawn of the sub-genre they helped to establish - but never before has an album of theirs been in the Mercury running. Hardcore... could change that. It's probably their most accessible album yet, and increased radio play has inevitably seen them attract new followers. Whole days can pass in this album's company, it's that sort of escapist affair. If a judge has managed to pull themselves free of its immense gravity, you never know...

BBC review

Watch the video to Rano Pano (YouTube link)

Mount Kimbie - Crooks & Lovers

(Released July 2010)

Just missing the cut for entering 2010's Mercury, the debut from Mount Kimbie shouldn't be overlooked in 2011. The electronic duo's reputation has rocketed since this LP's release, and they're gradually becoming go-to guys for remixes and more. Borrowing from acts like Bibio and Daft Punk, but disguising such parallels well, and twisting conventional dubstep tropes, Crooks & Lovers manages to present a coherent original voice in a sea of sound-alike electro acts. Drift off to this and you might just wake up and the end of a bus route you never boarded.

BBC review

Watch the video to Would Know (YouTube link)

The Phantom Band - The Wants

(Released October 2010)

Glasgow-based quirk-rockers The Phantom Band released a superb debut in 2009, titled Checkmate Savage, so many a listener came to this follow-up with expectations high. And rewarded they were, with a set that met the standards set by its predecessor and bettered them. Sharp of mind and spiky of riff, this lot don't do things by half, and The Wants is a completely satisfying set which packs a multitude of thematic starting points into pop-shaped songs which feature head-spinningly-good choruses that any festival crowd would feel proud to holler along to. It's not instant, though - prepare to spend some time with The Wants to get the very best out of it. Here's hoping a few of the Mercury judges have found the time this record needs to take proper root in one's affections.

BBC review

Watch the video to Everybody Knows It's True (YouTube link)

Planningtorock - W

(Released May 2011)

Bolton-born and Berlin-based artist Janine Roston, aka Planningtorock, has here crafted a record unlike any other on this particular list - and it's entirely likely that its weirdness will count against it when it comes to making the Mercury shortlist. It shouldn't, though - while as out-there as fare from previous collaborators The Knife, W is a compelling collection of electro-experimentation, of brooding beats and disconcerting atmospherics. James Murphy liked the artist enough to sign her to his DFA label - some seal of approval, there. But will the Mercury panel go for an album which takes as many cues from Giorgio Moroder as it does the gothic eeriness of witch house's hipster-baiting protagonists? If they do, someone buy them all a drink.

BBC review

Watch the video to Doorway (YouTube link)

Radiohead - The King of Limbs

(Released February/March 2011)

Radiohead have never won the Mercury, despite four previous nominations. If they win at the fifth time of asking, it won't be for their best album to date. But it'll be deserved for a catalogue which stands as perhaps the best of any active UK band.

BBC review

Watch the video to Lotus Flower (YouTube link)

Three Trapped Tigers - Route One or Die

(Released May 2011)

Uncompromising sonic terrorism here, from a London trio whose M.O. seems simply to be: make as much noise as possible, in a way that nobody has managed before. That everything seems to fit a structure is remarkable; that one can occasionally dance to this righteous racket, more amazing still. It's instrumental music with the emphasis on the last two syllables - jazz with Aphhex Twin in its blood, rock with ideas above its station. Whatever it's called, it's brilliant, but probably slightly too leftfield to make the Mercury cut.

BBC review

Tinie Tempah - Disc-Overy

(Released October 2010)

One of the UK's biggest urban stars of late, who's taken his wares stateside and enjoyed a hit with Written in the Stars, Tinie Tempah (pictured, above) is a pop icon in the making (if he's not reached that status already). Disc-Overy was nominated in the Best Album category at the 2011 BRIT Awards - it didn't win, but its maker did take home the trophies for Best Breakthrough Act and Best Single, the latter for UK number one Pass Out. He's done what Dizzee managed the year before him: combine rap lyricism with accessible clubland-conceived compositions, taking the results to the upper end of the charts.

BBC review

Watch the video to Pass Out (YouTube link)

The Unthanks - Last

(Released March 2011)

The Unthanks have experienced the thrill of featuring on the Mercury shortlist once already, The Bairns making the final 12 in 2007 (albeit under the banner of Rachel Unthank and the Winterset). Last is a stirring set of songs which sink deep into the soul, as unsettling as it is soothing. The beautiful interplay between members is one thing; the themes of death and disaster, quite another. They cover Tom Waits and King Crimson songs and make both their own. Truly, The Unthanks have become contemporary folk's premier attraction - and the Mercury could well fall under their spell once more.

BBC review

Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - Everything's Getting Older

(Released May 2011)

Ex-Arab Strap man Aidan Moffat's unique brand of Scottish misery has served him well across a series of releases - here, with multi-instrumentalist Bill Wells, he's produced a record that might just be his finest since parting company with Strap colleague Malcolm Middleton back in 2006. An acutely affecting collection, Wells' gentle arrangements serving as backdrops for some of Moffat's most sincere lyricism, Everything's Getting Older is the work of a man - of men - accepting that things really are not going to ever be the same. The past is just that - but, looking on the bright side, the future is just what you make it. Apparently this album took eight years to bring to completion - let me tell you, not a day was wasted.

BBC review

Watch the video to The Copper Top (YouTube link)

Wild Beasts - Smother

(Released May 2011)

With word around the record-reviewers campfire being that Wild Beasts were unlucky at last year's Mercury, their second album Two Dancers only just failing to tilt the title away from The xx's eponymous debut, what are the chances of this superb third album going that extra mile with the panel and triumphing in 2011? Well, those who've lived with Smother for a while have certainly made their affection for it clear via social media, and a chart peak of 17 suggests that the public have come around to the band's inimitable sound. It will be seen as surprising indeed amongst critics if Smother doesn't make the shortlist in July. Questions will surely be asked, as few British albums in the past year have been as magical as this beautiful collection, and its charms are yet to wear off several spins later. All of those 9/10 scores, they're on the money, you know.

BBC review

BBC interview

Watch the video to Albatross (YouTube link)

Wiley - 100% Publishing

(Released June 2011)

Grime scene stalwart Wiley's new album (his seventh studio effort overall) has crept forward in the release schedule - perhaps to give it a crack at the Mercury? Back on Big Dada after issuing his fifth LP, See Clear Now, through Atlantic, the rapper/producer has taken the power back, writing and recording this set himself (he mastered it, too). A commendable effort for sure, but one that's come too late to matter to the Mercury panel? July shall reveal the answer to that question.

Watch the video to Numbers in Action (YouTube link)

Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting

(Released April 2011)

Another BBC Sound of 2011 artist to have backed the hype up with a thoroughly decent album - the same can't be said of certain other artists (hang your heads, tipsters) - Woon (pictured, above) is a songwriter schooled in tradition but capable of putting a contemporary spin on what otherwise might be pop-folk pieces. His soulful vocals are the rock-solid core of any song, around which he weaves no little magic - arrangements come both minimal and fully fleshed, and both approaches suit his delivery well. If James Blake's album is just too opaque for you to focus on, Mirrorwriting is a great alternative.

BBC review

Watch the video to Lady Luck (YouTube link)

Zomby - Dedication

(Released July 2011)

Unpredictable dubstep-and-more producer Zomby is something of a loose cannon when it comes to recordings and live shows alike. Will his first album for 4AD, a label better known for atmospheric indie than genre-bending dance dynamics, live up to the high standards his fans expect? Or will it crash and burn brilliantly, its maker returning to beneath-the-radar operations as swiftly as he bounded from them? And if Dedication turns out to be 2011's most amazing album of its kind, will it be eligible for this year's Mercury? Too many questions. All that's certain: his track with Panda Bear, Things Fall Apart, is awesome, and if it's a sign of what's to come on the long-player, these two thumbs are turning upwards already.

Listen to Things Fall Apart on 4AD's YouTube channel (YouTube link)

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Artist:Moby

Album:Destroyed

Recommended by:Dermot O'Leary

Who'd have thought it? Almost 20 years on from his self-titled debut album, Richard Melville Hall - aka Moby - is not only still producing music, but is perhaps realising some of his finest productions yet. Destroyed, the man's 10th studio album (discounting various remix packages and the like), sees him meld delightful ambience with shoegaze echoes, elegant religious motifs with ethereal splendour. It touches upon the album that broke him in the mainstream in the most dramatic of fashions, 1999's multi-million-selling Play, while presenting new directions that sound more akin to the relaxed end of the Aphex Twin spectrum. And there's more to Destroyed than 15 tracks, too - the release is complemented by a book of photography. Moby kindly found time in his hectic international promo schedule to answer a few of our questions...

You've said on your website that the title, Destroyed, makes sense when the album is listened to. I have my interpretation - I think of someone exhausted, slumped, and these are the post-revelry songs floating around their damaged mind. But what makes you say that the title fits the songs?

Well, the idea behind Destroyed is, for me, the idea of removing everything familiar and normal from someone's life. Removing their home, their family, their friends, their bed, their language, their culture, and then seeing what's left. That's sort of what extensive touring and travelling can be like. And then the questions: Who are you, separate from all of the things you use to define yourself? And what brings you comfort and happiness when you're separated from everything that normally surrounds and defines you?

Were the songs completely in place before the encounter with the airport sign, which inspired the title? Presumably something just clicked?

Yes, something definitely clicked. I knew that I wanted to make an album and book influenced by the alien and anonymous aspects of touring, but I didn't know what they would be, nor how they would relate to each other.

You've also mentioned your insomnia, and how these songs were produced during times when you could not sleep. Do you hear a woozy quality to them, as a result? A gauzy mistiness to proceedings that very much makes it fine late-night listening? Given that most art is the product of environment, can you relate these songs directly to a particular time of day, and is that when they are best heard?

The songs, for me, make the most sense when listened to late at night, in an empty city. Downtown Los Angeles is particularly futuristic and dystopian, and makes a really nice backdrop for the music.

This is your 10th album - what relationship, if any, do you think it has with your debut of 1992? Can you trace a line back that far? Its ambient passages, to my ears, do recall your early 90s work; likewise, the more soulful moments (Rockets, The Right Thing) are reminiscent of Play. Perhaps fair to say that Destroyed will appeal to fans who've followed your work for the long-term?

I think it's my 10th, or 15th album, maybe. I don't actually know, as I've had pseudonymous releases and compilations. (Wikipedia thinks it's his 10th album - Ed) I do hear similarities between some of the music on Destroyed and some of my older albums, but I have no idea if that means it will appeal to people who've liked what I've done in the past. But it's always nice when people respond positively to the records I make - although I never assume that anyone will.

Picking on particular songs... Stella Maris seems appropriately named to me, but did its sound precede its title? It sounds perfect for echoing around some grand cathedral.

The lyrics on Stella Maris were written in the 12th century, I believe. So I just loosely borrowed the original title; my version is sort of colloquial Latin. I do love the idea of Mary Star of the Sea: there's something ghostly and beautiful about beneficent Mary floating and glowing over the ocean. I wasn't raised catholic; I just really like the image of a neutral and benign Mary floating around somewhere, being nice to people.

Blue Moon seems to me something of a light-side (vs dark-side) rebooting of Joy Division's Dead Souls - something you hear in it? It's the vocal structure I think... perhaps something working away in your subconscious?

Blue moon probably sounds like Joy Division because I spent most of my formative years listening to them, and trying to write Joy Division-inspired songs...

And then the final few tracks seem geared to the 'comedown' process, akin to the suite that closed the Prodigy's ...Jilted Generation album. Clearly sequencing plays a vital part in your albums - that being the case, does listeners cherry-picking from them annoy you at all?

I try very hard to make cohesive and coherent albums, as I really love the idea of an album as a very intentional body of work. In a perfect world people would listen to the album from start to finish, but I accept that 98% of the people who hear the music will hear a random mp3 here or there.

Three of these tracks - Victoria Lucas, Be the One, Sevastopol - have been given away for free. As someone who's been working since before download culture became what it is, do you see it as vital to give listeners something for nothing, as enticement or reward?

Simply, I just like the idea of people listening to music that I've made. I guess that's selfish of me. I need an audience way more than an audience needs me.

Does the need to give an audience more have anything to do with the forthcoming photography book, too? It's something that provides a physical presence for the album, where so many might just download the tracks. Do you feel that solid artefacts are still important to the consummation and appreciation of music? Can you foresee a day when everything exists in a virtual space?

I try not to think too much about the future of media, especially as it pertains to my own music and photography. It might sound simple, but I love making music and I love putting out books, and I hope to do so for as long as people are willing to pay attention. It seems like we have the best of all worlds now, where we can download some books and records and buy physical copies of others as circumstances warrant.

Finally, any favourite albums of 2011 so far, or ones to come?

I downloaded a collection of John Lee Hooker out-takes and rarities that I really like. The 18-minute version of I Hate the Day I Was Born is my current favourite song.

Read the BBC review of Destroyed

Moby - official site (external link)

Read more Album Reviews Q&A articles on the BBC Music Blog

Artist:Wild Beasts

Album:Smother

Recommended by:6 Music Album of the Day, Marc Riley

Wild Beasts' Smother became one of the most anticipated albums of 2011 as soon as its release date was confirmed. Having listened to it, repeatedly, I can confirm it's also one of the very best records of the year to date. The follow-up to 2009's Mercury Prize-nominated Two Dancers (a close second to The xx, apparently) takes its predecessor's deepest, most luxurious textures and proceeds to craft an entire long-player from them. Gone are the scuffed knees, the back-alley fumbles; the big-booted rumbles and the kicking-out-time turbulence. Smother is elegance and beauty, effortlessly imposing itself on the listener - lead single Albatross (video below) sets a fine tone. Expect this LP to go around several times before reaching for any other record. Frontman Hayden Thorpe was kind enough to spend a little time on the phone with us...

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Your debut album, Limbo, Panto, came out in 2008 - so that's three albums in three years for you guys. That's quite the productivity...

Well, our debut single, [Brave Bulging Buoyant] Clairvoyants, came out back in 2006. But there are no rules as to how this should be done: 'typical' record turnovers are completely an industry creation. For us, we try not to over-think a record - it's really not some sort of mythical creature. We're trying to make the distance between records as short as possible so we don't talk ourselves out of anything.

I love how Smother takes the richer textures, and the... well, smothering atmospherics of the last album, and effectively is built around these elements rather than the louder, more boisterous sounds of old.

We were really proud of the atmosphere of the last record. A good song is a good song, but if it has this majesty about it that you can't quite put a finger on, it's that much more special. We've stuck our necks out to really capture all the atmosphere we could - and it's something you can't fake. Nowadays you can make a bad song sound good with computers, but what you can't do is simulate a genuine atmosphere. I think that's come across consistently - and the final songs rather chose themselves.

And, despite the regular talk of your vocals, and of the band's eccentricities, this is pop music at heart, right? It's not complicated stuff... You're not setting out to be a cult band...

It's music made with the assumption that people don't need it dumbed down. I think that's the problem with a lot of pop right now: it's assumed that audiences are stupid. Which is bulls***. We've always made pop songs, and the strange dilemma is that the more we try to make pop songs the more bizarre they end up sounding. But from day one we've said, this is pop. We don't think that's a dirty word. We can't be accused of selling out because we've always wanted lots of people to hear our songs. They're not meant to be exclusive. We heard our music on Radio 1 a while ago - and it seemed remarkable that it was there in relation to what was around it, but also perfect sense as these are pop songs we're writing. Pop is all-forgiving - the great thing about the term is the music doesn't need to be justified.

You've reached album three having seen your profile grow steadily, but over that time many a new act has emerged, hyped, but crumbled on their debut. A product of the pressure imposed on new bands today?

Oh absolutely, there's loads of pressure. But at the same time I've no sympathy for anyone who flops after a hyped debut, as clearly it means it wasn't good enough. And most of the time these records aren't good enough. A debut album doesn't seem to be allowed to exist on its own terms, it always has to hark back to some nostalgic era. A lot of music being made today is safe, for a safe society - it's almost like right-wing music, made to keep the rich rich. It's predictable, and often made by people who don't actually need it to be successful. It should be accepted to be unique, that should be the assumption. But I'm just a passionate observer, really - we have introverted more. The great thing about moving on to a bigger audience is we've more room to manoeuvre within ourselves.

I have to mention the Mercury. Last year, it seemed like a shoot-out between yourselves and The xx...

Our initial suspicion was that The xx were always going to win it. Their success can't really be explained - it'd become a force, like a magnet. And we'd seen it happen before, but it's a rare and beautiful thing. And I think they deserved it. I had no complaints. They're very much in the spirit of what we do. We thrive off this feeling of everything being against us - and perhaps that comes from us being from such a rural place. We can be very guarded over it. We feel the same about our work with or without the nomination.

But now it's clear more people are listening, and the Mercury has been a great help...

For a long time we felt that we had to kick the door down - now we've been able to compose ourselves. Now people are listening we can speak a little clearer, more calmly. I think when you're away and spread out as a person, you try to scoop up the essentials and document the things that are getting away from you, because of successes or lifestyle. I think we've tried to document the great realisation that something beautiful is actually made up of a load of imperfections. Our one mission statement going into this record was to make a really beautiful album. We're going to be living inside this record and touring it for two years, and we felt that at this point in our lives we wanted it to be beautiful. And to do that we've had to include things we don't like, some ugly things, because they can be equally beautiful.

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Wild Beasts - Albatross

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You say you're going to tour this for two years - is that a side of the band you enjoy?

Personally I find touring very difficult - it's certainly not my first love. What I find really crazy is, while you're away, you live for that one hour on stage. The other 23 hours are completely expendable. But I get itchy when I'm home too long, as I do like to go away, and experience things. If you spend too long in your kitchen you end up writing songs about your kettle. But if you go to a new country, with fresh eyes, you see things that can be really fascinating. Equally, though, who wants to travel all their life, and return home at 50-something to nothing but a few records on the wall... and a damaged liver.

Surely the landscape around you when you formed, in Kendal, was inspiring...

Yes, I think the further we travel from the Lake District, the more we look back at the landscape that's helped inform the songs.

Regarding the songs, many a write-up has focused on your lyrics, which can get a little... saucy, I suppose. But not always in a pretty way.

That's the greatest purpose of art: to uncover what's ugly, to be a vehicle for these things to be realised and understood. Sexuality and violence, these are things that are suppressed and limited every day, they're to be controlled. So people become dependent on songs to reveal these things. They're entertaining because they pull at threads, because they're slightly perverse. To be cautious of what you're doing is really important. Say, Lady Gaga's version of sexuality isn't quite right to me. It's a bit of a double-bluff, really.

Have some of your rather more lurid lyrics ever landed you in trouble, though?

One of my most embarrassing moments ever was when I wasn't thinking, and I dedicated She Purred, While I Grrred to my mum. Perhaps not all that appropriate. But it's a lifestyle choice - you develop it, but you have to be careful. The inspiration you get from things far outweighs anything else. I would resent anyone who judges another person entirely on their art, without meeting that person.

Finally, what have been your favourite albums of the year so far? Or, what are you most looking forward to hearing?

Awaiting Kate Bush's return with Director's Cut, to me, feels a little like the protective and possessive worry that you feel for a parent with a new partner. Can this new whim really live up to the biblical expectation and belief you have instilled in this person? I've heard the new version of Deeper Understanding. The original is one of the most bizarre songs I've ever heard. The verse is really very sketchy, and hasn't dated well: "I press execute". This is pre-iPad era, for sure. The chorus, however, is a spectacular example of Bush's ability to turn on a sixpence. It lifts off in a blaze of voices and synthesisers. In the Director's Cut version the re-worked chorus has been overtaken by some maladjusted vocoder, as if an extremely high Kanye West picked the lock of her studio and started fudging things up. Okay, so I'll go with it for now and stay hopeful. She got Rolf Harris in on her last album and got away with it, didn't she? Well, just about. Tread lightly fair Kate, we love you.

Read the BBC review of Smother

Visit Wild Beasts on MySpace (external link)

Read more Album Reviews Q&A articles on the BBC Music Blog

Photo credit: Paul Phung

You won't catch her on the television chat show circuit. She won't be touring the radio studios to plug the new album. And as for a concert, forget it. So I'm slightly thrown when my mobile rings, flashing up 'private number', and a vaguely familiar voice says "Hello John, it's Kate Bush here".

In 2005 ago she broke a 12 year silence when she spoke to me on Front Row about her album Ariel. Now Britain's most successful solo female artist is on the line with a suggestion: "Would you like to come down to my house to talk about the new record?"

I didn't take much persuading and, last week, headed to rural Berkshire. Kate was charming, funny and hospitable. She has a beautiful home, a large Georgian property shielded from the outside world by mature trees and wooden gates. She guards her privacy fiercely.

Continue reading on the Radio 4 and 4 Extra Blog

What a month. Let's not waste too much time getting into what I think are the very best new albums of April 2011 - all are of an alarmingly high quality. Mercury Prize judges, get your ears around some of these...

(It should be stressed that I have restricted myself to 10 selections here. The fact that there are many more great LPs to have emerged recently - The Wombats, The King Blues, Dennis Coffey, About Group, Daedelus, Panda Bear, Instra:mental, to name just a few - goes to show what an amazing month for new albums April has been.)

Editor's Album of the Month

Dutch Uncles - Cadenza

(Memphis Industries, released 25 April)

Recommended by: Nick Grimshaw, Marc Riley

"Highlights come quickly, striking with immediate effect and retaining their charm numerous listens later (much like the band's debut, this will hang around the stereo for many weeks). 'It's alright,' says singer Duncan Wallis on one song, just before bellowing like a bungee-jumping John Lydon, but he's wrong. Cadenza is so much better than alright: it's more than a little brilliant."

Read the full review and listen to previews

The Best of the Rest

Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years

(Matador, released 4 April)

Recommended by: Rob da Bank

"It's the song Underworld USA that claims the most telling lyric, frontman Wesley Eisold imploring somebody - anybody - to 'Take me to the future / I'm ready'. No need, Cold Cave; you're already outrunning most the competition in that particular direction, with one eye cast approvingly to the past."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Watch the official video to Villains of the Moon on YouTube (external link)

Katy B - On a Mission

(Rinse, released 4 April)

Recommended by: MistaJam, Annie Mac

"Katy B is a new breed of singer, adding a vibrant gloss to a new combination of sounds with a charm and personality all of her own. She's shining bright and crying out to be taken on as Britain's new favourite pop star - and if this album is anything to go by, it looks like the stage is set."

Read the full review

Watch the official video to Lights On (feat. Ms Dynamite) on YouTube (external link)

Cat's Eyes - Cat's Eyes

(Polydor, released 11 April)

Recommended by: Jarvis Cocker

"Cat's Eyes is simply remarkable. Sounding like all the spectral and slightly 'woooh' music of yore, its makers throw in additional elements of Nick Cave gothery, Julee Cruise, early 4AD spook, Italian horror soundtracks and the more otherworldly elements of prime 1960s pop such as Scott Walker and Bobbie Gentry. The result is a hazy, somnambulant treat."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Watch the official video to I Knew It Was Over (Performed live at the Vatican) on YouTube (external link)

letlive. - Fake History

(Epitaph, released 11 April)

Recommended by: Mike Davies

"Rather than acting as an indictment of modern society and all its ills, Fake History simply asks the listener to take stock of the world around them and to form their own opinions about it. Far from didactic or preachy, it's a lesson in the pure power of music. Listen to letlive., and your mind - as well as your eyes and your heart - will be held wide open."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Watch the official video to The Sick, Sick, 6.8 Billion on YouTube (external link - contains flashing lights and language which may offend)

Metronomy - The English Riviera

(Because, released 11 April)

Recommended by: Lauren Laverne, 6 Music Album of the Day, Marc Riley

"If their last album, Nights Out, was the soundtrack to an all-hours party that threatened to blow the speakers, The English Riviera is the music in the ears of a restless insomniac. The type of punch Metronomy now pack is differently varied, and instead of relying on catchy melodies, its excitement and originality is now more broadly sourced."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Watch the official video to The Look on YouTube (external link)

Low - C'Mon

(Sub Pop, released 11 April)

Recommended by: Marc Riley

"Variable as they may be on this strong collection, the elements that bind are the clarity of the performance and the simplicity of the songs - emotionally the band is staring the listener in the eye. 'Slowcore' might be what people call them, but Low have grown beautifully beyond that, and will grow more still."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Watch the official video to Try to Sleep on YouTube (external link)

Kode9 & The Spaceape - Black Sun

(Hyperdub, released 18 April)

Recommended by: Benji B

"As Black Sun's evocative mantle screams, the record hums with a menacing darkness. Yet it's not paranoid urban dread, more an unknown extraterrestrial force stalking your moods. When a lunar time capsule next needs a musical artefact of almost indeterminable age, Kode9 & The Spaceape are your men."

Read the full review

(No official videos available)

tUnE-YaRdS - w h o k i l l

(4AD, released 18 April)

Recommended by: Zane Lowe, Gideon Coe, 6 Music Album of the Day

"This second tUnE-yArDs album advances the concept of rampant collision, hiking the extremities up to a further level. Lo-fi meets hi-fi, as big drum thunder under-booms sometime dictaphone-style scratchiness in the vocal department. It's like we'd imagine music made by a dangerously bright child, perfectly in touch with its razor-sharp instincts."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Watch the official video to Bizness on YouTube (external link)

Jamie Woon - Mirrorwriting

(Interscope, released 18 April)

Recommended by: Gilles Peterson, MistaJam

"As the stately pace of Mirrorwriting attests, Jamie Woon is not one to rush. And when the four years between his debut single, Wayfaring Stranger, and this first album have produced something so beguiling, it's clearly been time well spent."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Watch the official video to Lady Luck on YouTube (external link)

Dark Dark Dark - Wild Go

(Melodic, released 25 April)

Recommended by: Tom Ravenscroft

"Frequently capable of rendering the listener struck dumb by its beguiling beauty, and played by musicians in perfect harmony with each other, Wild Go is easily among the frontrunners for album of the year (so far). Its makers are an exquisite outfit exploring a soundworld that's entirely theirs."

Read the full review and listen to previews

Watch the official video to Daydreaming on YouTube (external link)

Artist:Josh Groban

Album:Illuminations

Recommended by:Loose Ends, Edith Bowman's Album Show

Since releasing his debut album in 2001 (after singing beside the likes of Elton John and Stevie Wonder!), Los Angeles-born singer Josh Groban has gone on to sell over 24 million albums worldwide. Balancing on the fine line between easy listening and pop with occasional classical leanings, his songs have reached a wide variety of audiences. With his latest collection, Illuminations, Groban has set his sights on UK listeners like never before - you might well have caught him guest presenting Never Mind The Buzzcocks in 2010. The album, produced by Rick Rubin, also marks the first time Groban has co-written his own material. Clearly, the man is stepping up a few gears and moving into a new stage of his career. We caught up with him on a recent promo tour, at his London hotel...

So it seems, from where UK observers are sat, that this record represents something of a push into the British market. Is the idea at the moment to take your huge stateside success and try to plant some of it on this side of the Atlantic? It already feels like this is your most successful record here, though I've not seen any figures...

I'm the same - I've not seen the figures but this does feel like it's my biggest record here so far. And I think, in my head, there's been a concerted effort to reach UK audiences since album one - but it had to happen a certain way in the United States, and certain stars have simply lined up. This time around TV shows, over here, have given me the time of day. There have been a number of things with this campaign which made us think: the spaghetti against the wall approach is actually working, you know? It's sticking this time. So before I'd be saying, "What, one appearance and then we fly back?" That's not how you break an artist. This time, though, I've been able to do several things on each visit. And also, I've made it a priority within my team to do whatever we can. My sleeves are rolled up for this album, so I said: "I'm ready to work." I know I'll get exhausted, and I know I can't be everywhere at once, but I must've been here six or seven times for this album, so I'm really happy to see that the hard work is paying off.

Illuminations seems to have been really well received in the UK, critically. Is that some sort of vindication, after knocking on the door here so many times and getting turned away, at least in terms of reviews?

I think so, yeah. You can't force anyone to accept you, or take you in as their own. In the States it started with the music, and then I had to show people that I was a real boy, a real human being too.

You were rather thrown into the deep end in the States, of course.

Very much so. Everything exploded for me. And I think the luxury of breaking the UK step by step, year by year, peeling away the layers of the onion, has enabled people to see who I am first, and then introduce them to my music second. It's been great to go on shows like ...Buzzcocks, and Graham Norton's show, and be myself. I love that this country has been more open to accepting this image, of a well-rounded person, rather than someone who just does this one thing.

It must have taken you a while to make yourself heard, around and shortly after the first few albums. I imagine everyone was telling you to do this, to sing that... You were only 19 when the debut came out, so it must have been a very dizzying, confusing but exciting time for you.

Yes. First of all, I was terrified. Nothing can prepare you for that sort of pressure, for going from blissful anonymity to the flavour of the whatever... People knew my name, and immediately began to judge me. I can understand why certain people go off the deep end. I was lucky - even in the States, when things were blowing up for me, I was never a hyped artist, or a press darling. I was never made to feel like a God among men in the States; it was always a case of me having a connection with my fans, and everyone else was kind of dismissive. I think, when I look back in hindsight, that kept me really grounded, and feeling like I should keep doing what's real, as the superficial stuff isn't paying me any attention. All I had was the music and the fans, so that kept things going the right way.

By not being everyone's flavour of the month, you seem to have achieved success through being that somebody's flavour instead. It's quite an unusual approach, by today's standards. The National, maybe, are the last band I can think of who've achieved a high level of success very slowly, over here.

Well, I never expect to be the one at a big party who everyone is stopping to turn to look at; but I always have the silent satisfaction that I've usually sold more records than anyone else at the same party. (Laughs) You know, I'm kinda like a silent assassin. I've kept my head down, flown under the radar, and quietly had a really successful career. For me, that's the best of all worlds. I don't have to worry about paparazzi, and I can make albums that I know my fans will want to hear all of - which is today's market is a real blessing. And if people turn their heads, then they turn their heads. There's still a long way to go, but at least some people are listening now. It's an old-school approach, you know. Slippery When Wet was Bon Jovi's third album - nowadays, nobody would have waited that long. For me, to take 10 years to break the UK... are you kidding? I'm lucky, as most people wouldn't even get 15 minutes. In the old days you could grow from album to album, so I feel really lucky to have been able to take my time.

Do you think if you'd exploded into popularity now, but didn't impact on the UK relatively simultaneously, that you'd have the chance to work slowly over here?

Yes, 100%. The business has changed so much since I started - albeit through no fault of the people who work at my label. It's just a bottom line thing, and everyone's working with a gun to their head. And that isn't conducive to real creative growth. There's a lot of pressure. I'd go so far to say that even if I'd had a hit single on the first album, if the album itself didn't perform to the standards expected today, I'd never get the chance to do a second one. But again, I've been very lucky to have so much support from my fans. I've seen at least two or three regime changes at the label, so to still be around is quite something.

When making this album, did you think that there'd be people picking it apart, only downloading certain tracks?

Well, this is where having the real, diligent focus of Rick Rubin was very helpful. I think he is an amazing grounding force to some amazing personalities that he works with. I needed someone to focus me - I was getting a little scattered by the business and was starting to freak out a little bit. I'd just done a Christmas record (2007's Noël) which I didn't think would do anything, but that was exploding. So, creatively, after that, where could I go? I was a bit confused. But I managed to relax, and realised that I didn't need to make an album out of pressure, or out of fear. When I first started talking to Rick, it seemed so odd on paper - but what we shared was actually genre. Even in his old interviews, when asked about hip hop and heavy metal, he didn't get into those worlds to be an impresario; he sees genres that he thinks he can somehow change for the better. So he came to this genre, and saw things he liked and other things he did not. So he was excited about taking a risk in working with me, and I was excited to have him in my ear. So I think having him, instead of several producers on one record, just eagle-eyeing it to make sure we stayed at a consistent level, was really helpful.

You look at the gap between albums on paper and it seems a long time - your last studio LP proper came out in 2006. Did Illuminations take longer than any other album in your career to come together?

Well, I toured a lot. If you don't do your homework, which I should have done, then you're on tour for a long time, and you come off without having written anything new. Now that I am writing a lot more, that's changed - I write everywhere, whether I'm touring or not. Rick and I had a prolonged getting-to-know-you period. We both wanted it to happen, but didn't want to force anything. Early on, we were not pleased with what was coming out of the speakers. His programmers and engineers are among the best in the business, but they're not able to make you sound that good if you weren't already. They will use their expertise to make the cleanest sound, but you have to sound good on top of that. I think there are a lot of proactive producers who get off on taking something rough and moulding it to their style, putting too much of themselves into it in the process, but Rick is all about the artist earning their face on the front of the record. So we went into a dry room, and if we weren't comfortable that day you could hear it on the track. So we rehearsed lots, and really worked on the arrangements - when, when we came to record, it was like a performance at Carnegie Hall. We'd made ourselves ready in the right way.

Did you feel that the best-of, 2008's The Collection, was a good way of effectively closing the first chapter of your career, now that you're writing your own material and working in a different way?

Definitely. My best-of thing here was a bit different to a lot of peoples' best-ofs - to them, such a release comes after they've peaked, but for me it was a way of introducing myself. But it was also a way to say goodbye to a part of my musical career - these are songs that I am proud of, and that will always be a part of what I do, but now it's time to move on and do something different. So it did feel like a changing of chapters of sorts.

Did Rick introduce you to much new music?

Oh yeah. Many of our early meetings were just listening sessions. We'd sit down at his house by the water, with this great speaker system, and go through tonnes of songs, mining them for ideas as well as simply listening for pleasure. We went through so many songs, through world music and rock... When we came across Straight to You, the Nick Cave song, we thought: "Wow, what a lyric, what a message... What a darkly dramatic opus". He suggested we do this arrangement of it, and I wasn't sure. With a cover song, you have to stay clear of just stylising it in a certain way, to tick a box. Rick was confident I could make it my own - he told me to not listen to Cave's version at all, once the decision was made, and instead just focus on the words and how I could interpret them. When we got together with James Newton Howard, to arrange it at Capitol Records, we had this demo but I was still terrified to perform it in front of everyone. What would the musicians think? But when we finished the first take, everyone tapped their instruments to say, there's something special here. That was the first song we recorded, and we always knew it would finish the album. And it was great to get a message from Nick Cave, via Rick, that he liked it.

Finally, what are your favourite albums of the year so far? Since Illuminations came out last year, I'll let any 2010 releases stand...

Oh man... Well, I listened to the new Adele record last night, and it's beautiful. Rick worked on that at the same time he was working on my album, so it was fun to hear how they each shaped up. She's also done a lot of writing with Dan Wilson, who I worked with a lot on Illuminations. I loved The National's album of last year, and was thrilled that Arcade Fire did so well at the Grammy Awards. It's a wonderful thing to see a band do things the right way, to come from grassroots to the radio, to worldwide success. It's a little like what Muse have achieved in the States. There's a lot of good stuff out there right now... Lykke Li I just listened to, as we were in Dublin at the same time. I think she's on the verge of really breaking big. I loved the last Neil Young record, Le Noise, too.

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