Too Pure

Electrelane recorded their third album, titled Axes, at Steve Albini’s Chicago studio. It is situated in an industrial area on the outskirts of the city, and before it was a studio, was a dairy. The band arrived just before Christmas 2004, set up their gear and ran through the whole album in one take. They kept three songs from the first session - opener ‘One, Two, Three, Lots’; the dense, piano-licked ‘If Not Now, When?’ which skims through shades of The The’s 1986 classic Infected; and an energy-soaring alt-pop rocket in the shape of ‘Two For Joy’.

The remainder of Axes, which combines John Coltrane-inspired jazz, a deep love of Eastern European Klezmer music, emotive piano music, a male choir and hardcore drone, is a beautiful, courageous and emotionally literate snapshot of a band in impressive control of their sound. It’s a big, dense record that counters the experimentation and textural heaviness with songs and sonic elements of light-hearted joy and extreme beauty. Vocalist and pianist Verity Susman: “We’ve always wanted to convey some kind of emotion, rather then literal messages. Something celebratory and joyful, but that could be sad and tragic too. It’s that point where happiness and sadness cross.”

Electrelane formed in early 1998, in drummer Emma Gaze’s bedroom. Originally based in Brighton, they released their first single, Film Music on Skint’s Indenial offshoot, followed by releases on Fierce Panda, Let’s Rock! and now, Too Pure. In 2001 they released debut album Rock It To The Moon, followed by 2004’s The Power Out. Last year, Rachel Dalley left and was replaced by old friend and bassist, Ros Murray.

All the songs on the album began life as improvisations. Take ‘Gone Darker’, which features a train recorded in Tuscon, Arizona. “Mia started playing guitar, Ros added the bassline then Emma and I joined in,” says Susman. “we added the train after we played a gig in Tuscon – it was boiling hot so the doors of the venue were kept open and we could hear the trains while we were playing.” The resulting song is extreme and angular, but captivating.

There are no breaks between tracks on this album. “We see the record as a continuous piece of music, not a collection of songs,” explains Susman. “It also reflects the way we improvise, moving from one idea to the next without a clear break. It’s also how we play live”.

Fans may have seen the band in 2004, wowing crowds at SXSW, or more recently, at Benecassim, or more recently still, supporting The Ex on their American tour.

Axes is a huge leap on from The Power Out – although Axes does contain songs that neatly bridge the two albums. ‘I Keep Losing Heart’ and final track ‘Suitcase’ (which somehow calls to mind strange bedfellows Pink Floyd and PJ Harvey yet sounds like nothing but Electrelane at their fierce best) both feature the Chicago Acapella choir who sung so memorably on The Power Out highlight ‘The Valleys’. “They fit with the energy of what we’re trying to do,” says Susman. “Especially when they sing loud. It’s not the easiest thing to mix with a band, but the sound of an organ, a guitar, drums, bass and a choir makes such perfect sense – the slight weirdness of it all.”

There’s also a cover of French resistance folk song ‘The Partisan’, which was made famous by Leonard Cohen. The Electrelane version is full of fire, ripping into the song and updating its meaning to deal with the modern age. “We started playing this on our U.S. tour just before the election there. It was a song we thought we could do something with. We like the graveness of everything Leonard Cohen does – it’s the sort of thing we want.” Previously, Electrelane covered Roxy Music ‘More Than This’.

The album title is taken from the lyrics to ‘I Keep Losing Heart’. ‘Careful where you swing the axe/ It might come back and hit you in the…’ The song doesn’t explain where, exactly, the axe might land. That’s left up to you, the listener.

Electrelane are Verity Susman, drummer Emma Gaze, Mia Clarke (guitarist), and Ros Murray (bass).

Between them, they play piano, organ, harmonium, saxophone, guitar, bass, banjo, cello and drums.

They live variously in Berlin, the Czech Republic, London and Brighton.

This is their best album yet.