\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div><\/div> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Winstanley<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\t\u201c\u2018Redeemer\u2019 felt like the biggest reset after\u00a0Where\u2019s My Utopia<\/em>,\u201d says Smith.\u00a0\u201cAnd it felt right because whenever [someone] thinks they\u2019ve got me sussed, I like to do the opposite. I know it\u2019s a slippery approach to life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThough recorded in Leeds, the album took on a transatlantic dimension too when the band headed to L.A. earlier this year to record with Justin Meldal-Johnsen, known for his work with the likes of\u00a0Nine Inch\u00a0Nails and Wolf Alice.<\/p>\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n \n\t\u201cThat was the icing on the cake for this record,\u201d says Smith. \u201cWe thought we\u2019d had most of [it] written before then, but it was the first time we\u2019d ever removed ourselves from any distractions or obligations. There\u00a0was\u00a0no childcare or relationships to balance. Even when we were recording the first album we were still going back to work. Having that cut off and being on the other side of the world was the glue that held this all together, I reckon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tNeedham adds: \u201cYou can get a bit hocus-pocussy\u00a0about that stuff, but going in and doing a vocal take knowing you\u2019ve got to do the school run in 45 minutes is tough. We\u2019re not super flowery about this stuff and I like to think you can just crack on, but that separation can be really, really good.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn the band\u2019s debut album, Smith employed Graham the unscrupulous landlord as a constant feature in that set of songs as a framing device for the band\u2019s razor-sharp look at British life. Though dialled down on this record, fans will still note the presence of Janey, described as an \u201cold flame\u201d on the twinkling, piano led \u201cJaney Said.\u201d The old flame here, Smith explains, is an inwards look at the cost of his own ambition.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s that thing where I have a very ambitious streak in me and I live with this twin flame where I\u2019m constantly battling my own ambition because it scares me, but I know that it also drives me and it\u2019s what gives me new avenues in life to explore,\u201d he says. \u201cPart of me wants to be content, but there\u2019s another part of me that knows I\u2019d get bored if I was.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019m really trying to figure out, especially in reflection to the first two records, what the journey towards success looks like like. Because, you know, I\u2019m not unhappy all the time, but that friction does exist, so how do I learn to live with that? Every world leader and every owner of every corporation is driven and look where that\u2019s got us. So why is my drive somehow more plausible and acceptable?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThere are\u00a0also gems that didn\u2019t make the album, both note. If fans thought \u201cRedeemer\u201d heralded a new sound, they\u2019ll be blown away by the unreleased \u201cOn Top,\u201d which Smith hails for sounding like \u201cour \u2018Master of Puppets\u2019 with double kick drum and me screaming over the top\u201d, he says, namechecking the Metallica song.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJames Winstanley<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tIt\u2019s also helped that the band is as close as ever. The jagged \u201cPetroleum\u201d on their second album\u00a0homed in\u00a0on the reality of what happened when Smith, burnt out from an intense tour schedule, dramatically turned on the crowd at a show in Bognor Regis, berating them for what he perceived as a lack of reaction.\u202f It could have broken lesser bands, both say, but this Leeds four-piece \u2014 completed by drummer Jay Russell and guitarist Sam Shipstone \u2014 are still tight at the start of an exciting\u00a0new dawn.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe talk constantly with each other, and that connection between band members is rarer than you think,\u201d admits Needham. \u201cI always like to have a nosy about in the backstage of festivals and see who\u2019s sitting together and who\u2019s not. You\u2019d be surprised.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cEarly on, we realized there was no ego from anyone and although I was the mouthpiece of this band, no one had any envy of that,\u201d adds Smith.\u00a0\u201cWe silently agreed that if I took the brunt of it, it would travel further. But then every album\u2019s been a slow undoing of that, and\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0less words on this album than the others.\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been able to step back a little. People are really invested in classic bands where every member is integral to\u00a0it,\u00a0and\u00a0I think people\u00a0are slowly realizing\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not the \u2018me\u2019 show. I just pretended it\u00a0was,\u00a0because\u00a0there needs to be a focal point at the start. But every album is\u00a0more and more\u00a0about us as a collective. And I consider that to be the sign of a great band.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tA great band, then, with some prolific backers in their corner, no less.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
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