Dec 19, 2018 8:33 PM - A $725,000 grant from the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois will support Prairie State Legal Services' Ready to Work Project for another 18.
Guy Garvey, far right, and his Elbow bandmates Pete Turner, Mark Potter and Craig Potter, are back with a fresh new sound They battled with another label over the lack of promotion for their third album, 2005’s Leaders of the Free World, and were without a deal when they started work on career-best 2008’s The Seldom Seen Kid. And “against it” was exactly the position they found themselves in at the start of 2016 when it came to making Little Fictions, their first album since 2014’s The Take Off and Landing of Everything. We never thought Richard would leave and we tried to fix it. It was nobody's fault “He’s been in the band for 25 years and he wants to do something else and I think that’s fine.
He is a great drummer and he will go on to do great things.” In Jupp’s absence, Garvey says that Little Fictions shows the band’s fresh sound. He says: “The record started off with us all as a bit bewildered and shocked that he had gone. “But by the time he decided he wanted to leave it was a positive coincidence. It wasn’t working any more and we were then ready for him to go. “On a personal level I’d be lying if I said we were best pals at this point.”. The group have had to adapt as a four-piece after drummer Richard Jupp decided to leave It’s a beat-heavy record to compensate for not having Jupp’s skills any more, but it has a sparseness that came from keyboardist and producer Craig Potter’s love of hip-hop.
He started the album off by sampling other drummers and putting beats together himself. Little Fictions is a record of togetherness from a band who decided they wanted to carry on and still had plenty of music to make.
The biggest concern on a personal level was, “What was happening with the group?” reveals Garvey. “Was anyone else feeling Jupp’s unhappiness? Could we handle it or rescue it? “Elbow have had trying times before and there had to be a first time where it wasn’t fixable. I have to stress that there are no villains in the story.
It just naturally came to an end with Jupp.”. We’ve moved on and forward, which is really important for a band who has been around as long as us. We lost a member who can never be replaced but adapted as a four-piece But his leaving has also created a different dynamic. “The band have got into different patterns of working and it means we have made different music,” says Garvey. 'Our sound has got fresher and it lends itself to a bit of fun.” Little Fictions is a step up and the sound of a revitalised band.
It was recorded in Scotland and Manchester and includes collaborations with the string players of The Halle Orchestra, the Halle Ancoats Community Choir and members of London Contemporary Voices. It’s the best album Elbow have made since The Seldom Seen Kid.
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The stripped-back Gentle Storm is stunning with delicate vocals over a subtle beat. Head for Supplies is divine, backed by a choir, and the jubilant Magnificent (She Says) is up there with the band’s most anthemic songs. Jupp, far right, had been in the band for 25 years “We think Little Fictions is our best work in ages,” says Garvey proudly. 'It reminds me a lot of the first album we made (2001’s Asleep In The Back) and also The Seldom Seen Kid.
“It was a proper graft making that record and it was our most successful album. We don’t mind that we are still known as the ‘One Day Like This band’.
“We are really proud of that. It is a nice thing to be trusted to deliver uplifting anthems. “And I think, despite the bad times we’ve had recently and the bad year 2016 is known as, it’s good to appreciate the moment. “I was the same as the rest about Brexit.
I woke up on the tour bus and heard the news and thought, ‘Oh you are joking, f.king hell’. We don’t mind that we're still known as the ‘One Day Like This band’. We're really proud of that. It's a nice thing to be trusted to deliver uplifting anthems “And then Trump got elected, and can it get any worse? “I can’t listen to some of my favourite records at the moment because they're too dark. And certain dramas are too dark.
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“But we thought about what made us stay strong. And we have love, though we did worry about some of the songs being too positive after the year everyone was having. “But the album is called Little Fictions. There was also the thing that I was keen to point out that while all the songs draw on my life experiences they are not all actual things that have happened. “Also they are from different periods of my life, some of which are dark and others about love.”. Elbow’s tour begins on February 26 Last summer, Garvey married girlfriend, actress Rachael Stirling (star of The Bletchley Circle and daughter of The Avengers actress Diana Rigg) after she’d proposed on February 29 — in a leap year when traditionally women can propose marriage.
“We got married at Manchester Town Hall by my old friend Matt, who had his training to be a registrar speeded up so we were his first job. “There was lots of weeping. And then we went for a curry. It was the perfect day.” It was on honeymoon in Sardinia that writing for Little Fictions started for Garvey. He says: “Every morning I was woken up by a kid playing in the sand and it was the loveliest thing to see. “When I went to get the music the lads had sent me from Manchester, and as soon as I turned on the wi-fi, all the s.t news poured on to my phone.
'There was so much violence and negative reaction, prompting the lyrics in K2 about ‘an eye for an eye’. “I thought about how when we're born we are so trusting and it takes you a lifetime to turn into a f.ing paranoid, negative b.d. We live in the safest era, but everyone is so frightened.” Garvey also reckons making his solo album 2015’s Courting the Squall helped give him a new love for being in Elbow. He says: “Turning 40 was a real change for me.
I made a solo album. I met my wife and went to India and felt I could still connect with Manchester from wherever I was in the world.” With his band always associated with Manchester, the day I meet Garvey he is packing to move to a new house in London the next day. Another new chapter for you, I ask? The lads pushed me to be a better lyricist and a better singer.
You don’t get away with not being the very best with them “Yes it is,” he smiles. “But I will always be back here. I’ve been living in Manchester and London now for two years, and it’s not like living in LA or New York.
“I can get back in two hours and I get loads of work done on the train and I prep for my radio show on BBC Radio 6 on the train as well. “But doing separate things means we all benefit. Craig produced Steve Mason’s album Meet the Humans, which means Craig came back a better producer. “Pete was writing towards this record all of the time we were away and Mark started The Plumedores, his amazing three-piece blues band. “So everybody had done different stuff and everyone came back a bit better at what they had been doing.
And plus we didn’t see each other. “I loved making my solo album but I really missed having people to write with. The band are 'as proud as can be' about Little Fictions, says Garvey “All of our songs on this record were a collaborative effort. The lads pushed me to be a better lyricist and a better singer. You don’t get away with not being the very best with them.” In rehearsals for their upcoming live tour, Garvey says they're ready to play venues they haven't performed at in a while.
He says: “We love theatres so we decided we’d rather do four nights at the Manchester Apollo than at the Manchester Arena. “It’s just a better experience for the fans and better for us. Better for the intimate songs and showing off what we can do live. “We have Alex Reeves on drums who is a fantastic drummer and played on my solo album too. “We’ve moved on and forward, which is really important for a band who has been around as long as us. “We lost a member who can never be replaced but adapted as a four-piece. “Times change but then you adapt and that’s why I can’t wait for our fans to hear Little Fictions.
“We are as proud as we can be about it. We are made up.” — Little Fictions is out on February 3 and Elbow’s tour begins on February 26. ©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. 'The Sun', 'Sun', 'Sun Online' are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited.
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