It may seem far away but anyone with an interest in current music should make it their business to get a ticket for Wild Beasts’ show in Róisín Dubh on March 25. The English quartet’s second album Two Dancers was one of 2009’s most acclaimed releases, topping many critics’ end-of-year polls.

“It was a real whirlwind year,” says bassist and backing vocalist Tom Fleming. “For the band, it was magnificent. It was a real surprise; I’m not sure any of us expected it go as well as it did.”

Wild Beasts’ follow-up to their Limbo Panto is a much more cohesive and focused record. Were the band pleased with the plaudits foisted on Two Dancers?

“The thing about being vindicated is that you start to wonder whether you needed it or not,” muses Tom. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s really nice, but it’s one of those things – when you see your own name on these lists after a while you think ‘oh it’s normal’. You have to remember it’s not normal, this is amazing, quite rare. It’s been a trip.”
 

Did the band change their game plan when recording their latest CD?
 

“We did approach it slightly differently,” Tom says. “For a start we wrote it in very little time, mainly in about three weeks. We decided to record all together, on tape. The first one was done on Pro-Tools, on a computer. The discipline about tapes means you get about three takes and if none of those are any good then you’ve got to do three more. It makes you listen.”

“It was just where we were at that particular time,” he adds. “We were eager to capture it. I think we were aware that making an album is basically interacting with time, and that’s what makes recorded music different.”

Wild Beasts retreated to Ledders Farm in Norfolk to make the album. The relative isolation of the area helped them focus.

“It was a very self sufficient little farmhouse,” Tom recalls. “We really didn’t leave; I think I left once. It was like get up, go into the studio, then go to bed. With that you keep things on the boil. As long as you’re having fun then it’s wonderful. Obviously if you’re not enjoying, or it’s not going well, then it’s a nightmare. But it did happen quite well. Also it was freezing, it was minus five every day. That was good, it kept us locked away!”

Although based in Leeds, Wild Beasts originally hail from Kendal, a picturesque town in Cumbria in the Northern England. Does their hometown feed into their identity as a band?

“I think we carry a chip on our shoulder because of where we’re from to be honest,” says Tom. “It’s very pretty but it’s also right in the middle of nowhere and it doesn’t have its own music scene, as such. We always thought that music was happening elsewhere, to somebody else. And because of that we made a point of having a voice and having something to say; not necessarily something that hadn’t been said before but something we could make our own.”

Those new to Wild Beasts (and they are absolutely a band worth hearing) will be struck by the falsetto of leadsinger Hayden Thorpe. It’s quite a hook, but one the band can back up with quality songs.
 

“It’s definitely something he’s worked on,” Tom says about his friend’s voice. “As far as I know he’s always sung like that; that way of using your voice as an overriding instrument. I was the last one to join the band and I was very aware of what they were doing before I joined.”
“The one thing that surprises me is he can always do it,” Tom continues. “I’ve never heard him have a sore throat in his life. He can always produce that sound, which is quite something when we’re touring at the pitch we’re touring at.”

All The King’s Men was one of last year’s most memorable songs, a swaggering, sensual number propelled by Thorpe’s demand to ‘watch me, watch me’. How did the band come up such an effective calling card for their new album?

“It’s a sort of idea I’ve had for a long time about small town Lotharios and woman haters,” says Tom. “That ‘watch me, watch me’ is half Superbad by James Brown and a book called Nights At The Circus by Andrew Carter. It has a scene where a woman commands ‘look at me, look at me’. It’s that kind of thing: ‘watch out, look at my resplendence’. It’s supposed to like a bawdy joke, with a nastier side to it; it’s pretty black humour.”

This is a more intelligent and imaginative approach to songwriting than modern music fans are used to, but it still translates into infectious stuff. Tom is proud with how Two Dancers turned out.
“I was pleased and still am,” he says. “The key thing is we wouldn’t make that now; we’ve forgotten how to make that record. We’ll do something else next time but hopefully it’ll be a logical step on. We were pleased because we took a few risks and mostly they came off; they could’ve fallen on their arse.”

Does the intent with which they approach recording cross over into Wild Beasts’ live show?

“I think unavoidably, yeah,” Tom states. “We know each other quite well and we’re doing it for some time now. It’s a sense of communication, I suppose; that we have to speak with one voice for people to get it. Generally speaking we’re quite locked in with each other because we have to be, if people are expecting us to be good. We have to make sure we give them what they’re asking for.”

By the time they reach these shores, Wild Beasts will have completed tours through Australia and America. Expect to see a band on top form when they make it to Galway.

“The pressure’s never off,” Tom says. “You’re only as good as the last thing you did. You have to be good every night; every note on every record has to be interesting and do something. This is a joy and you have to earn it. We can’t take our foot off the pedal yet; we’ve got too much ground to cover. We’re only just starting out.”

Wild Beasts play Róisín Dubh on
Thursday, March 25. Doors 8pm,
tickets €15/€12.50 members.