The tracklisting of the album is as follows:
- Sweet Sour
- Bruises
- Lay My Head Down
- The Devil Takes Care of His Own
- Wanderluster
- You’re Not Pretty But You’ve Got It Goin’ On
- Navigate
- Hometowns
- Lies
- Close To Nowhere
Band Of Skulls return with their highly anticipated new album in February 2012. The trio’s sophomore album, Sweet Sour, was recorded at Rockfield studios in Wales, once again with producer Ian Davenport, and mixed in Los Angeles by Nick Launay (Nick Cave / PIL / Yeah Yeah Yeahs).
“In our minds, our first album [2009’s debut album Baby Darling Doll Face Honey] was quite an intimate little record,” says singer/guitarist Russell Marsden from behind his trademark bug-eye shades, “But it turned into this huge rock thing in venues across the world.” Late in 2010, faced with the prospect of beginning work on their as-yet untitled second album, they stole away to a remote studio in rural Norfolk with nothing but each other, their instruments and some strong red wine for company. “It seemed like a good way of decompressing everything that had happened to us, all the adventures we’d had, but it was like a big, dramatic therapy session,” says Marsden.
January 2011 brought a new perspective and a new location – the trio returned to the cradle of their first album, their home studio in Southampton. “It’s a tiny little room, but there’s something about it,” says the drummer. “If you can make something sound good in there, it’ll sound good anywhere.”
The creative juices soon started flowing, and the three songwriters – Marsden, Hayward and Richardson – were collaborating more fully than ever before. Scraps of melodies, lyrics and riffs fell into place, and complete songs began to emerge: the slow-burning album opener “Sweet Sour”, rockers “Lies” and “The Devil Takes Care Of His Own”.
By the time they reached Rockfield, the legendary residential studio in Wales, the band were primed to road-test the new material, playing a handful of US dates in a break from the album sessions. Later, a performance at the Bonnaroo festival went on to shape the album’s character. “The new songs went down so well there we decided to incorporate some of the mistakes and mishaps into the studio versions,” says Marsden. “We had Ian [Davenport, returning Baby Darling… producer] jumping on top of our Fender amps to recreate one bit where the reverb was crackling and making weird noises.
Marsden and Hayward have been making music together since the latter was 12. “When me and Russ started playing together, dad wouldn’t let us play a gig until we were good enough,” says Hayward. “By the time of our debut gig, we were the most over-rehearsed school band in England.”
Richardson, who designs all of the band’s artwork, was drawn in after meeting Marsden at art college in Winchester, despite having never before picked up a bass. “Pulling pints in music venues was frustrating because you’d see these bands coming through and you’d be like, ‘For fuck’s sake, I so badly want to do this.’”
The band’s fortunes changed when they launched their own monthly shindig – Club Skull – at Southampton’s Talking Heads venue, where they hosted artists including Anna Calvi, Thomas Tantrum and Jim Jones Revue and saved the headline slot for themselves. “It ended up being the local hang for all the bands,” remembers Marsden. “People would make up there, break up there… get pregnant!” It gave the trio a platform and a name: it’s here that Band Of Skulls were born.
The feverish response to Band Of Skulls in America, Australia, across Europe and elsewhere has happened as a result of a few things. Getting a global iTunes Single Of The Week with “I Know What I Am” helped (and as a result, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey was rush-released to meet demand). Their appearance on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack in 2009 helped too.
With the attention afforded to them from audiences in far away places, the UK eventually caught up too. “You can do something so close up to the eyeball of England that you can be overlooked at first,” says Marsden. “It’s only when you go away and do something of note elsewhere that you’re given a hearing.” And that’s exactly what happened. “That’s how we see it,” says Marsden. “Songs are your weapons. You might walk into somewhere and it’s got a barbed wire-fronted stage, so you hit the crowd with your heavy rock stuff. Sometimes the vibe is quite delicate, so you play the quiet stuff. We can do both. We’re the Swiss Army Knife of bands.”
Band Of Skulls are:
Matthew Hayward – Drums
Russell Marsden – Guitar & Vocals
Emma Richardson – Bass Guitar & Vocals
