Elbow
Subscribe
X

Get the latest from Beat

Elbow

elbowgeneralimage.jpg

“One of the songs that started the whole thing was Jesus Was A Rochdale Girl,” explains Potter. “Actually, that song was a bit of a blueprint for the entire album. After we got that one down, it was seriously a case of, ‘Well what would be a song that would complement that next?’ The best way to describe the record is that it just breathes.

“I’d like to think that our last album was pretty simple overall, but compared to this album it actually sounds quite grand and gigantic!” he laughs. “This record really takes its time and it’s very stripped-down. I suppose the courage to keep things simple is something that comes with years of experience… and a general confidence that you only get to develop when you’ve been doing this for a long time.”

Or when your album beats Radiohead’s In Rainbows at the 2008 Mercury Awards… That too is something of a confidence boost, as Potter agrees. “All I’m going to say is if you can find the YouTube footage of that, our faces would tell you everything,” he laughs.

“Winning the Mercury Prize has been a highlight of the last 20 years, without a shadow of a doubt. This is going to sound really weird, but I was in the shower the following morning and I found myself crying… And all I could think was how much happiness I was feeling!” he chuckles.

“It felt like after so many years working on this band and giving it out heart and soul, it finally got some kind of recognition. We always genuinely liked our band,” he adds, “but to finally have that kind of tick from such a prestigious prize really did mean a lot. We always thought that if other people had only heard our music, if they only just had access to it and give it a chance to have a few listens, they would like it too!”

Stepping it up a notch lyrically, but stripping Elbow down a level musically, Build A Rocket Boys! has been one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year. Everybody’s been dying to hear what Elbow would do next after the enormous success of that last effort, and album number five far from disappoints… If anything, according to Potter, it’s a collection of songs that are probably the most personal to the band members so far.

“It’s a very nostalgic record,” Potter states. “A lot of the things on the record are about growing up. It doesn’t talk about the really young years too much, like as kids, but more as early teenage years. That was around the time that we all first met each other and it’s really the start of this journey that we’ve had over the years. Actually, our drummer (Richard Jupp) and bass player (Pete Turner) go back even further, they went to primary school together. My brother (Craig Potter) is the keyboard player in the band, so really, we’ve all known each other for a very long time. I know that some bands talk about this feeling of brotherhood and whatnot, but for me it feels like I’ve got four wives!” he laughs happily.

It’s not hard to imagine why after over three decades of being in each other’s lives, Potter sees Elbow more akin to a family rather than a mere band. It’s simply much bigger than that… “The true test is if you can all be together in one room, nursing huge hangovers – and still finding each other’s funny and likeable,” chuckles Potter.

“Being in a band is like being married to four other people, and I’m already married, which makes it even weirder!: he grins. “I can’t say that we’ve ever really had a hard time; working with these guys has never felt like work. There were a few pressure-cooker moments during the making of this album, but it was more to do with the fact that we didn’t have a record deal and therefore we weren’t even sure whether the damn thing was even going to come out in the end.

“I’d never describe our ‘job’ as some kind of effort or chore because we acknowledge the fact that we are very lucky to have such a good profession,” he admits. “What made a big difference was that The Seldom Seen Kid was a record that we were sure wouldn’t get heard by a lot of people at the time of recording – even though we were clearly wrong in the end! But with Build A Rocket Boys! we knew it would be an album that was going to be heard by many, many people. We tried very hard to put that out of our minds while writing but it wasn’t easy.”

Extra added pressure was also on Potter’s brother and Elbow keyboardist Craig Potter who took on production duties for the second time on the band’s new album. As the guitarist points out, considering his brothers’ stellar work on The Seldom Seen Kid, it was a safe bet to go with Potter’s talents the second time around.

“Craig did call the shots more than before but that was okay with us because we totally trust his opinion,” says the guitarist. “He was quite confident but there were some nerves there for him too. Obviously the awards he’d won because of the last album would have helped in the confidence department but he’s incredibly talented anyway. He’s also actually recognised as a producer now, so he enjoys it even more now.”