Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The Horrors V SIGNS ARE GOOD
Guitarist Rhys Webb impressed by producer’s work on new album
’Paul for example quite likes the idea of a guitar that doesn’t really sound like a guitar’
When Kendrick Lamar announced that he was kicking of his European Tour at the 3Arena in January the clamour for pre-sale tickets crashed the three website for 15 minutes.
His Dublin date with James Blake as support is expected to sell out within seconds when tickets go on general release tonight.
The rise of hip-hop on these shores has been noticeable over the last number of years and there are some who think that our love affair with the genre heralds the demise of good old rock n roll.
“I think at this point from my humble perspective that shifts of interests have occurred from guitar music,” Rhys Webb of English rock outfit The Horrors told The Beat.
“I think that teenagers hearing music for the first time aren’t getting into guitar music, I think they’re getting into electronic music or hip hop.
“It’s very different to my experience at school listening to Blur or The Kinks or something like that which was my introduction to music,” the bass player continued.
“I just don’t think it’s a great time for rock and roll at the moment”.
The Horrors came to the fore back in 2007 – the beginning of a golden era for the Indie band.
Their rise to prominence coincided with the adulation of bands like Bloc Party, The Strokes, Razorlight and The Kaiser Chiefs but unlike their peers the London based rock group have shown an uncanny ability to roll with the punches.
And it is this ability that may just save them, if Webb is right and the death of guitar music is indeed happening before our eyes.
The influence of producer Paul Epworth (who has worked with U2, Adele and Rihanna) on their latest release V is significant, it’s the first time the band have brought in an external authority on one of their albums.
Recorded at Epworth’s Church Studios Crouch Hill North London, V benefited from his ability to trim the fat during projects.
“I don’t think we could have worked on another record by ourselves and been happy with it,” admitted Webb.
“We needed to do something different and we needed a bit of excitement and that’s why we decided to work with Paul (circled).
“We used a whole new studio we wanted him to be a sort of authority to say yea this sounds cool or that needs to be scrapped.
“He just kept things moving really quickly – if something wasn’t working we just moved on
“We’d gotten into the habit of obsessing over things and spending far too long working on things we shouldn’t have in our old studio. “Then as a result just not really enjoying it and the whole thing could become quite an exhausting process.”
The band’s obsession with the limits of their instruments has also meant that experimentation is part and parcel of the process.
Synths and pedals are messed about with to find new ways to put out their sound, Webb explains that it has become the norm.
“We’ve always enjoying experimenting with sound and instruments and finding new ways to communicate with them.
“Paul for example quite likes the idea of a guitar that doesn’t really sound like a guitar.
V is a heavier record than the bands previous releases Skying and Luminary, and while it isn’t exactly a return to their punk/ garage-y roots there is noticeably more fuzz and definitely more guitar.
“It’s certainly heavier than the previous few records we’ve done,” said Webb.
“We had felt that we had been slowly moving away from a heavier sound over the years and felt that didn’t feel right for The Horrors. “We wanted to get a bit heavier on some the tracks and I think we’ve managed to do that on this release.”
V is the band’s fifth studio release and it marks 10 years in the industry.
Webb explained that while it hasn’t been all plain sailing, The Horrors are looking forward to the prospect of introducing their work to the masses.
The garage-punk outfit kick off their tour in Belfast’s Mandela Hall on October 16.
“We’re always looking to improve and satisfy ourselves which can be hard – you’re not always happy with the way things sound, there are bad days. But then there are days when you go into the studio and come out with something that sounds great,
“It’s the first time we’ve been on tour in two and a half years and I’m itching to getting back on the road.
“We’ve done a few shows and the new tracks are feeling really good so I’m looking forward to showing them to people, and get rolling.”
Whether or not Webb’s damning assessment of rock ‘n’ roll’s place in music’s future is true, his band have shown that there is still a market for interesting guitar music – and that will likely remain unchanged.
Whether he admits it or not.
Tickets to see the Horrors live at the Mandela Hall are priced at £22.25 and are on sale now through www.ticketmaster.ie and usual outlets nationwide.