In the week of the release of their fifth studio album ‘Build a Rocket Boys!‘, Elbow frontman Guy Garvey has been talking through the creation of the new album, and has admitted to a sense of ‘responsibility’ while writing new material.
Speaking to the Daily Star newspaper, Garvey explained how, despite the breakthrough of previous record ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’, his focus while writing hasn’t shifted, thanks to a sense of ‘responsibility to the rest of the band’ he experiences.
“It’s the responsibility to the rest of the band that gets me,” he said. “I’m not a natural lyricist and I have to work really hard to get them to a standard I’m really happy with. I feel that responsibility to the song as well – to make the song as good as it can be.”
Garvey also discussed the make-up of the new album, who’s distinctive stripped back sound was something the band had consciously aimed to reach during their time in the studio.
“We did know we didn’t want to polish it and work it like we did with The Seldom Seen Kid,” he revealed. “I love that album and I think of it like I think of old Victorian bridges – huge great big things, but lots of intricacy and ornate details. We spent a lot of time working on the finer details of that album and it was the first time we’d dealt with some of the subject matter – the death of a close friend and so on.”
Elbow will begin a UK arena tour next Tuesday (March 15th) in Glasgow.