They’re dishing out
something a little
less cheesy, a little
more believable
)tit ul ilit- sr< <>ii(l.ii\ silent <• dial
t onics like an all-too bi ltd
respite lx-twern the high-mien
Mly ( holds ol I Ml s lalesl
alhuni. Stigma, swells a rising i hoi us ol
hamiimu >us vi>■< es I )eep in form and I it h
in units the methodii al ( hauls ,ue spell
Minding |usi as this stirring sound nears its
pinnai le though, a singularIs retogin/
able lone emerges Irom the vocal mass,
desperate and defiant in 11' forceful
pitarnation.
I ime is what I want.” he sa\s
hui du n lime inns out, and the hard
edged rills ol luulal leallls leac It out to
slap sou itghl in die face.
We needed something in die i horns ol
"Blue Highs") and I had this record ol
Kulgar tan chants," Ian Dench, lead-gui
i,nisi and songwriter for KMf. sass from
the i o/v i onlines ol his l.reds hotel room
'■"> I put dus ie<old on and just ran the
ir.u k in see it anwhing sounded light al
die beginning of dus record li til jx-itei dv
widi the tr.u k — tx-Hei l in time, (hi let t in
when we had no tesponsibihtles H was .ill
difi gi .mil i vt iletneiU about ln'ing ill ■*
band Stignui iv kind <>t dealing with what
vit’ir Ih’I’Ii through ovei ihe Iasi two yraiv
.mil bow it s bet ome a wav ol life
In fait. I-\ll appears to take a bit of a
del ensue stand against i ulii s who (In lied
tin- instant applause showered on the
band follow 111^ its fust I eic ase
I o dm end. the i arrlulb i rafted souk*
on SjigtH/i seise as answers meant to sili’iit r
the still ski-pin a I purists ol alternative
inusii Kven the album's less dun -subtle
title pro
sides .11 Iu<- in f Ml s opinion i«l ii' h i <'in
i xiHiMiir in thr « motions .mil withering
glare III thr mass • llltlirr spotlight "I
jiin-n (thr n.mu' isj kind ill having U> lot'
up tu |K*oplr s mist out rpt it ms uIhiiii tin
hand." I trill It .Millltts Some |M'ii|)lr still
s% t tic us i it I .in some shallow |)ll|l hand,
they haven't Intent'll
I Ml i i aimed down, see ond-itnt «■
iomul -i|>pi1 mi Ii i" studio tet Hiding, ton
pled with .i mUt'li clearer nciini- ot its
intended uiunu.iI duet turn, allowed thr
band m exploit- tirrh thr Imtindless Inn
its ol its Ntvlr while in Hiding Stigma I hr
hand had all the nine H needed to finish
choirs to mi Recall
V care oMhe backprt
kc ill the i hold i h.tngcs — .mil wr
. thought. Slut, there’s tomclhlng going
■ in tic'11 So wr pm a straight down on
dir tri old."
It M ims lather obvious dial
something definitely n going on
heir, that these overnight
British sensations haven’t
‘(tine lallen into tlie fortnu
Ian void ol |Mi|>-<ontoiini
tv that tempts so mans
onr-hit wondei acts with
Its mrsistihle appeal ot
i hail topping sucres*.
1 M1. m fact, seems
determined to shed its
I op 10, New kids-on
thr 1 lines lllix k image
with a vengeance. As
•he retiain ot Stigmas
opening track goes,
they’re here." and this
time, they’ve got some
thing to prove.
"h Vs as a dillicult time writ
ing the album because it was
so self-conscious," Dench says.
It vvas like, ’Who are we? What
•tie wr doing?’ We had to just shrug
oil the pressure to write another ’Un
believable’ and do our own thing
"I Die album] is kind of autobiographr
eal in a way. Sthubrrt Ihp was done at a time
itself, much
■■■■rVocaiist sX
BpjfSIngs about love
“^Royalty with a potso- * **^
Pfmart-ass swagger on sinple
Kirtd. hook-laden songs lik#
*Arlzona" and "Gettin^fhroWh/
v Samples of every pip-cultural
phenomenon Iron Bulgaria*
not con||
album’s M
Stigmj EMr
tor ot the |
■uabie" and
■Ilf as defir
Bre one-hit
B«0 Millar
CXJH’I HIM 111
'■\nolhei problem with
Sihubrrt l>ip w.o that we weir
lushed in doing it, v»e
wot ked with protlut ets
and |ust didn’t have the
confident e to stic k up
lot out beliefs in
some wavs." Deni h
savs "It was a bll
ut a coinpioinise
Ihil on tins one.
it’s like wr know
how we want to
sound now
we’re (list cap
luting that scut
ol live energy
“We re wcit k
mg more as a
band, and
maturing, and
we’re kind of gel
ling into it more,"
he says dec isivcly.
‘We developed more
control over this album.
It s kind of like our first
album; It (eels like out firs!
album ’
Ironically, though, the band's
staunch determination to gain critical
and artistic approval may have alienated it
It*nit an rvtrntial lr*gnifi«»f its 01 igtn.il bins
thr Urm1*»|>|>n srt
l think 1 the albumj threw some pro
pit some < >f thr Irrli pirss that v»\ . < Hi,
thrv (uinrd thru bac k on thru r\c itmg
stul! and dies got old and Imting. " admits
Ik'iu h with a hint ol droll British v»n asm
“Hey, look, we go
deeper than that.
We’re authentic.”
m his von r "Well, lair enough I guess
some people Vslm liknl us bring .1 pop
Irand ui wluinri ilon'l like us 10 develop
4K.IV tllilll ill.11
"So many rubbish songs go In nunilwi
our In not u-allv .1 inommentlanon foi .1
song in Hu in nuinlx-r 011c ami lor a twin I
In have immediate < hail mii 1 c« vviih mu
kind ui background Some people milr
vmi nil Ini dial, though Viibrlievablr was
an rn rllrnl smig
I bus despite 1 lie- obvious appeal id
1 Inn mug mil lmndlrvslv mlmln smuidmg
singles, Item li [triilrw' I Ml wmilil linn h
lathri rarn mu cess during the kmgri haul
ui its 1 arcri "I don't alw.ivswanl 10 do dm
'heart ol the lop dung too mut li.” hr savs
Ural mav mean giving up the mass we
saw - it-on-M IV liilliiwmg o{ (am who 1 nine
with bring at die lop ol die < harts with a
song like "I nbrlievahle." But Deni h
doesn't seem to mind, espei tally il the
band makes 11seIf and its music a little
more lielievable along the Kav.
*11 there's anything we should steer
clear of. it’s obvious single material,“ hr
\avs emphatically, “'cause it dirrr's some
thing se (eel uncomfortable with, it's a
(oils uplirat |Mip record We just wanted to
make a sort of statement: 'Hey. look, wr go
deeper than that We're authentic." tl