TOP OF HIP PARADE
The Xcerts haven’t managed to trouble the charts yet but the live favourites are getting there.. slowly
IF THERE were chart placings for tenacity, The Xcerts would be No1.
The Aberdeen trio who formed at school in 2003 have never worried the top of the charts but have always been a sure-fire live hit and have just released their fourth album, Hold On To Your Heart.
While other groups would have quit and either tried with other players or gone back to civvy street, singer Murray Macleod and bassist Jordan Smith, both 29, who started the band as 14-year-olds, and drummer Tom Heron, 32, who joined after original drummer Ross McTaggart left in 2006, have kept the faith.
Following debut In The Cold Wind We Smile in 2009, second album Scatterbrain came quickly after in 2010. But then it took four years for third album There is Only You and another four years until current album Hold On To Your Heart.
Murray explained: “We have always said as long as we are moving forward, we will keep going. Sometimes we move at an excruciatingly slow pace but we are moving forward and that’s all that matters.
“We constantly believe that our best is yet to come. It’s in our blood to do what we do and we have a hunger that just won’t die.”
Listening to the new album ahead of them playing Glasgow tonight and Aberdeen tomorrow, this band just get better with every year. The songs mix Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen with a sound that Murray claims the band were trying to capture from the ending of 1985 John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club. Its uplifting vibe is at odds with where Murray was before the band started recording, having split up with his girlfriend of five years and finding himself unable to leave his room in Brighton, where the band have lived for more than a decade. “Fundamentally, I felt completely worthless,” explained Murray. “I was living in a hideous studio apartment that me and my friends ironically nicknamed The Mansion because it was so small and rundown.
“I wasn’t socialising whatsoever and I was laying on the floor one night listening to records and thinking to myself, ‘This can’t be it, there has to be more to life than these four grotty walls’, and that’s when I felt inspired to write We Are Gonna Live.” Grabbing joy with
We’re older and a bit wiser now. If we argue, it’s all hugs and kisses within a few minutes
both hands became the blueprint of the album. At first Murray and Jordan had clashed at early rehearsals but, once the path had been found, the trio ran at full tilt creating upbeat tunes like Daydream and Feels Like Falling in Love.
Murray said of his relationship with Jordan: “We met when we were 14 and we’ve been best friends since. We’re as close as brothers so, of course, we argue. Tom likes to compare us, in a very Spinal Tap manner, to fire and ice. However, we are older and a little bit wiser now. If we ever argue, it’s all hugs and kisses within a matter of minutes.”
Even the title song – about his ended relationship – didn’t score points but pointed to a time when it was good and taking that into the future.
The girl in question knows he’s written a song about her but Murray doesn’t know if she’s heard it.
He said: “I didn’t ask for her permission but she knew there would be a record written about the relationship breakdown.
“I have no idea what she makes of the record or if she has even listened.
“The songs on the album were very much born from the dark but we want the listener to feel invigorated by the end of the record. We were tired of bumming people out, we want to make people dance.”
Tom Petty, who died in October last year, was a big influence on the album.
Murray said: “I was devastated when I heard of his passing. It genuinely felt like a relative had died. I always thought there would be a disconnect between a musical hero of mine passing and my emotions because I didn’t know them personally, but I was hideously wrong as I was crushed.”
The album was also produced by a well known voice of the 80s, Gary Clark, who had a huge perennial tune Mary’s Prayer with his trio Danny Wilson.
Murray said: “Everything he does comes from the heart, which was ideal for someone like me as I have my heart firmly stitched on to my sleeve. We wanted to tap into a more 80s sound with this record and experiment with synths, loops and keys.”
Last year, The Xcerts opened the Reading and Leeds festivals, which has set them up to playing more festivals this year.
Murray said: “It was a total trip. That was the first time we played Reading and Leeds, so to open the main stage that weekend was incredibly surreal but we also felt very comfortable up there.
“We’ve worked hard for many many years, so to get that slot was a huge honour and a dream come true but we knew we had to go out there and kill it.”
This year they have already lined up a European tour and hope for festival slots before going to America.
But first it’s Glasgow tonight and Aberdeen tomorrow. Murray can’t wait. He said: “It’s always great to be home in Aberdeen, my folks are still there as are many of my buds. I love the city.
“The shows always feel a little bit more pressured because we’ve left the city. I feel like there is a little bit of expectation from the crowd, but in a good way. A very loving expectation.” ● Hold On To Your Heart is out now. They play O2 ABC, Glasgow, tonight and The Garage, Aberdeen, tomorrow.