Gallows

Mon 22nd Jun, 2009 in Features

When it comes to political music, very little compares with what has emerged from the United Kingdom. From straight down the line didacticism to more subversive fare, the UK has had it all.

So it makes sense that – as the Global Financial Crisis (and in this wonderful capitalist world, whomsoever has trademarked that phrase must surely be worth a fortune by now) takes a hold – a lot of music emerging from the United Kingdom would, once again, have a strong left-wing political slant to it.

It’s certainly true when speaking of bands like Gallows, who have followed up their debut album Orchestra of Wolves with Grey Britain; an album as big and bombastic as a prog-rock band from the 1970s, but with a pervasive insurrectionist stance to it.

Grey Britain has garnered fantastic press for the band, and it seems certain to be regarded highly as an album that makes a significant statement in 2009. “The way I personally see it,” surmises lead guitarist Laurent Barnard, “is that the album is still really new. It’s going to take a little while for all the kids to digest the music. We’re playing between 1000-2000 capacity venues, so it’s going really well and the tour has been really amazing. The kids are singing along and I think this album is a lot more anthemic, a lot more hard-hitting, and a lot more straightforward that our previous record.”

The band recorded it with noted producer GGGarth Richardson, who is famed for giving bands – œbig’ sounds on their records. Having worked with the likes of Rage Against the Machine (he produced their self-titled debut), he would seemingly be the perfect fit for a band such as Gallows.

“It was amazing,” Barnard confirms. “GGGarth is a really good producer but he’s also a really funny guy, so he’s great to be around. What was great about working with GGGarth is that he was an engineer before he was a producer. We knew exactly what we wanted to do for the album and how the songs were going to be, so we wanted someone to come in and make the album sound big and powerful and have the raw energy that we have on stage.

“When we first started recording, he said, – œWe’re going to do it all live, and not use a click-track, and just play as hard as you can,’” Laurent recalls. “And it sounds awesome.”

The album’s outlook on the current state of the UK is dark. “It was a pleasant experience at the same time that it was really, really intense,” the guitarist says. “I would always say it was the best experience of my life in terms of immersing yourself into recording an album. We used to go into the studio during the day while we were recording the album, and we’d always discuss what we’d seen on the news or read in the papers, and we just noticed over the [northern hemisphere] summer last year that there was a definite downward spiral occurring in the UK.

“We picked up on this pretty early on,” Laurent continues, “and Frank [Carter, vocalist] started basing his lyrics [on that]. Pretty much by the time the album came out we were almost prophesising all these awful events, so it was pretty scary, but really good.”

Gallows aren’t the only UK band looking at the current economic and socioeconomic state of the UK. Fellow sophomore album cohorts The Enemy are also looking at the state of the nation on their new album, Music For The People. Amazingly, both albums have come out at almost the exact same time, with similar subject matter, but very different approaches.

“They’re genuine good kids,” he says of the three-piece. “They’re from a similar kind of background as us, in that they’ve found themselves in the music industry quite a lot by chance. They didn’t start the band to be the next Oasis or sell millions of records; they started the band because they wanted to play music they believed in. Now they’ve been given this platform, and most of it is exactly what bands should do. These days, bands tend to want to write hits for the summer, and to me it’s a bit silly, that they start a band to be famous.”

The best thing about Grey Britain is that it’s not just relentlessly heavy and depressing. There’s greater experimentation with the music to be heard here when compared to their debut. It’s a step that the band definitely wanted to take.

“We wanted the album to be one piece of flowing music from beginning to end,” he confirms. “So as opposed to just picking out songs, it’s best to hear the album as one go. From the first song it’s a set-piece, setting the mood of the record, and then it just follows in that order. I think the whole tone of the record comes from the orchestral parts, which are heavy and emotional. The notes are always passionate, yet beautiful and disturbing.

“I think that’s the whole idea for the album,” Laurent summarises. “We want to make something classical; taking you back to the olden days. A lot of the themes on the album are based around religion and Victorian beliefs and apocalyptic ideas, so we tried to make the whole record as dramatic as possible.”

Grey Britain is available now – read the FasterLouder review. Gallows are headed our way in September for five sure-to-be-incendiary shows.

Tuesday 22 September – Fowlers, Adelaide (All Ages)
Thursday 24 September – The Hi Fi, Melbourne (Under 18)
Friday 25 September – The Hi Fi, Melbourne (18+)
Saturday 26 September – UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney (All Ages)
Sunday 27 September – The Hi Fi, Brisbane (18+)