Interview with Charlie Fink (Noah and The Whale) - Noize Makes Enemies

Pain. As humans, pain is, a feeling, we all encounter; whether it be on a regular basis, on a small scale, or on what feels like the worst level possible. And nothing hurts more than the pain that associates itself with love. That feeling which physically hurts as the abstract emotion turns to concrete and reaches in, squeezing each atrium of your pitiful organ.

But as humans, we hurt and then we heal. Often a direct result of whatever cathartic process we’ve immersed ourselves into as a distraction. Some of the best and most beautiful creations emerge from this form of therapy. Bon Iver created ‘For Emma, Forever Ago; an album bursting with more pathos than the runner up in the X-Factor final. Cue Charlie Fink’s proverbial rehab and Noah and The Whale’s second album ‘The First Days of Spring’.

And the Autumn it follows? Fink’s own heartbreak with the end result an eleven track masterpiece that replaces textbook folk handclaps for lyrics so rich with torturous accuracy that the listener is left wishing they could have articulated their own pain so efficiently. Similarly, the vocal supplements of Emmy the Great and Laura Marling have been replaced with divine orchestration:

“It’s very different from the debut. It’s different lyrically, its different instrumentation, everything’s very different. The ambitions for it are also very different.

"The album is very a much a single person’s story and it’s definitely not a duet. At no point is the album a duet and so it would feel unusual to have an extra voice there, it needed to be quite solitary I think. We have a choir singing on a few songs and the reason I liked that is the texture of it and also there fact that it’s less personal than if it’s just one other person’s voice. There’s quite a big difference between a choir and duet.”

Meeting Noah and The Whale’s lead singer and song writer, Charlie Fink, at the band’s North-West London studio, it’s hard to believe music of such epic heights was created in what appears to be such basic surroundings. Sat in black skinnies and an over-sized pastal striped shirt, Charlie effortlessly exudes an unavoidable likeability and as he fingers his indie curls, it’s clear he’s every bit as passionate abut this album as the end result implies.

His creativity and work ethos is also demonstrated by the film he has produced to accompany the album. Featuring the likes of Daisy Lowe, Fink’s development from music videos to the film, named after the album, was something as unconventional as his mission statement:

“It’s not the same thing at all but, along the lines of ‘Man on Wire’; about the guy that walked between the two twin towers, it’s like in a way that’s the most beautiful pointless act of all time because it has no purpose other than the pleasure of tightrope walking which is, I’ve never experienced that pleasure but you know, I think it’s the same thing. It’s creating something because it’s beautiful.

“It’s trying to make something that was such a peculiar shape that it’s almost pointless, in the best possible way. It’s not a short film, it’s not a feature film, it’s this weird unmarketable non-commercial product that’s just a piece of art. And that’s what I like about it.

“The initial inspiration was also the idea of how people listen to albums now that they don’t sit down and listen to an album as one experience and take it in, so to create a fully immersive album and that is as much in the writing process of the album as it is in the film as well. There’s this quote from W.D. Collingwood which is that ‘Art is Dead, and amusement is all that’s left’ and he wrote that quote like 100 years ago, so if you made that quote now it’d probably have more weight than ever."

The film, ‘The First Days of Spring’ is available with the album, but characteristically ambitious, Charlie has bigger plans for his debut film:

“I’m doing a tour, because for me, it really belongs in a cinema, that’s really it’s home because that’s the real purpose of it so I’m going and I’m taking the film to different cinema’s around England and screening it and doing a Q&A with it. I’m doing Bristol, Manchester, Sheffield, London and maybe Brighton.”

Whilst Charlie’s development and maturation is something exposed on the new album, Noah and The Whale’s very foundations are also undergoing big changes:

“We’re introducing a new line up because bizarrely, Doug, who plays drums, is becoming a doctor and so we’ve got a new drummer in and we’re bringing in a 5th member to play extra keys and guitar. So we’re trying to get them up to speed for touring in September but we’re doing a few more shows with Doug as well. We’re kind of just remoulding the live thing really”

Having done ‘the live thing’ throughout the Summer and Reading and Leeds still to come, the band look set to transform into a sort of musical collection of gypsies as the first days of Autumn encroach:

“We’re basically going on tour forever, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m packing up and moving out of everywhere I live in London. I’m moving out of here (studio) and my home and going to kind of just have a couple of bags of stuff and just enjoy the road and just travel when I can in between touring. It’s really going to be a great feeling I think.”

And fans of the band can expect a set list throughout their touring that truly embodies Noah and The Whale:

“I very much try and do things by instinct, whatever feels right, and so I think we’ll just play the set that sounds best to us which will incorporate a bit of both and maybe some stuff that’s even newer than the new record.”

Whilst, when most of us feel as if someone has torched the space between our lungs, we turn to a box of red wine, Eastender’s Heather Trott’s freezer drawer of ice cream and a lot of self-destructive behaviour, the others count to ten, compose themselves and use it to their advantage. Thankfully Charlie Fink was one of the latter. Defining the album/film combo as one of his proudest achievements: “The thing is when I first kind of envisaged this project, it seemed like such a vast and unassailable task to get it made and the process of actually completing it is very satisfying, regardless of whatever happens to it.” it’s clear that, despite early heartbreak, this year, and the future, has very exciting prospects for Noah and The Whale.

Single Review - Kill it Kid - Burst its Banks - Noize Makes Enemies

Turning over a CD single to see four young men and a girl dressed in black, some with side fringes but all looking a mix of annoyed and bored isn’t a good start. I automatically presumed it would be another angry Emo contrived attempt at being the new Paramore, but it soon became clear that my initial perception was largely flawed.

In fact, second single from Kill it Kid is just over three minutes of folky fiddle-playing innovation. ‘Burst its Banks’ is a theatrical hybrid which exudes something instantly likeable as its dramatic nature is light-hearted and consequentially endearing in a wholly unexpected way. Far from a self-pitying emotional nonsense, it evokes comparisons to the likes of The Hush Sound or, due to the daring instrumentation and violin reliance, even something of a lesser Arcade Fire.

Whilst the track, as well as its b-side, ‘Hold yourself like a Woman’ wont grab you by the ears with any sort of compelling compulsion to keep playing, it does arouse intrigue for the band’s debut album due to the five-piece’s innovation and apparent musical prowess. New music, particularly if it goes against what is expected or being mass produced, should be welcomed and with Kill it Kid being such a young new band, with a bit more fine tweaking, they could well be set for exciting things in the future.

Album Review- Killa Kela - Amplified! - Noize Makes Enemies

Wikipedia defines beatboxing as ‘a form of vocal percussion which primarily involves the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth’, but it’s more likely that when you think of beat boxing, images of Rahzel (the one with ‘two voice boxes’?!) and embarrassing white chavs spraying out saliva amongst inaudible noises on X-Factor to a bemused Simon Cowell are instantaneously conjured.

But what happens when it’s chucked in amongst a plethora of talented, and really rather legendary, producers and a new artist who seems to have more creativity than a Goth during an art degree? Something along the lines of an album like ‘Amplified!’

Killa Kela is this beatboxing champ and his debut album is eleven tracks of mind broadening, pleasurable electro. Showcasing Justice-esque dirty dance on tracks like ‘Built Like an Amplifier’ with lyrics like /and my knees hurt from all the times I tried to please her/ rivalling the intoxicating filth of the likes of Peaches.

‘Situation’, ‘Cards and Cheques’ and ‘Couple of Wasters’ fuse 90’s rap with modern hip hop and electro in a sort of Beastie Boys meets Kid Kudi collision. Similarly, ‘Get a Rise’ throws another proverbial spanner into the genre defining works, with Killa Kela teaming up with Hadouken! in one of the most standout tracks of the album due to it’s dirty drum and bass and screamo energy. Even when sliding a more traditional pop dance song into the mix with ‘She’s Sweet’, Kela still maintains an edge that makes it seem innovative and at the forefront of some sort of movement with a retro beat.

The album’s sheer diversity and creative prowess means influences and comparisons read like the NME archives but Killa Kela manages to enhance these inputs, as well as the help from the likes of Does it Offend You Yeah? Frontman and Human League Producer, Martin Rushent, and still stamp his ownership and individuality over the debut with all the power of a rock-filled Nike Air Max trainer.

Album Review - The Rumble Strips - Welcome to the Walk Alone - Noize Makes Enemies

The Rumble Strips. Think sporadic outbursts of Charlie Waller’s adeptly versatile vocals, think big brass melodies and upbeat songs about puppy love.

Now, erase all preconceptions. The Rumble Strips have, by their own admission, grown up as a band and that difficult second album has undoubtedly been enhanced as a product of this new found maturity within in the band. That, and the input of love-or-hate producer Mark Ronson, who adds a trademark authentic 1940’s and 1960’s soul feel to the whole album, particularly on title track ‘Welcome to The Walk Alone’. A traditional sound that that Waller’s unique vocals compliment perfectly.

‘London’, ‘Back Bone’ and stand out track ‘Not the Only Person’ serve to reassure long-standing fans that all the components that captivated them initially have not been lost within The Rumble Strips. Far from being removed, they’re bigger than ever. Rammed with brass and drums (something that Ronson ensured by using three microphones on the drum kit) they have added a hyperbolic form of grandeur and boldness.

Yet, the alterations to the band are prominent in the shape of subject matter and lyrical development. ‘Raindrops’ is much darker than fans are used to, encapsulating the pain of a failing relationship perfectly with the pleading lyrics; /Say the same words, mean them more/. Of course it’s as epic as the rest of the album promises, but this edge to the album is something new from The Rumble Strips and a very welcomed dose of pathos. Similarly, finale track ‘Happy Hell’ sticks to the same semantics of loss and deceit with ballad inspired lyrics /The only way now is all the way down to hell/ Can’t you tell? Where do you go when you’ve got no soul left to sell?/


The only real criticism of the band’s follow up is that, far from a background album, sometimes the sheer proverbial size of the tracks is a bit overpowering and difficult to take in. Yet, in some ways, this grandness and huge orchestration, is one of the albums best assets.

In many ways it’s hard to believe these are the same boys that were once singing about motorbikes and alarm clocks, but The Rumble Strips have managed to evidently grow as a band, moving their musical style and lyrical abilities forward as well as encapsulating everything we already loved about them.

The Rumble Strips have essentially blasted their musical hurricane with a magnifying glass. Everything is bigger. And quite unthinkably, it’s even better.

Single Review - LR Rockets - Renee Loves Losers- This is Fake DIY

Imagine Late of The Pier and The Cribs, in their earliest days, smashing against each other in a sort of Indie/ Metal most pit. With each collision, the chaos and bare brutality is magnified. The end result of this Eastgate and co. vs. Jarman fest? Probably something along the lines of LR Rockets.

The lively five-piece force their way through unexpecting speakers crammed full of Northern enthusiasm and Modest Mouse-esque innovation. The band is truly a breath of fresh air and new single ‘Renee Loves Losers’ is as body-thrashingly intoxicating as their previous releases.

B-side to the single, ‘OK, Let’s Talk’ is similarly overflowing with energy with the prominent lyric of self-importance /Do you know who I am? I don’t think so. Ha ha/ conjuring forgivable images of diva behaviours.

It is said that patience is being bored, but not doing anything about it, in which case LR Rockets is impatience at its finest with their sporadic tendencies and metal undertones, if a little lyrically juvenile in places, making it nigh on possible to stay in one place. Hey Scenesters, LR Rockets could well be one of your favourite new post-punk bands.

Single Review - My Sad Captains - Ghost Song - This is Fake DIY

I would imagine that the usual reactions to seeing, or thinking you’ve seen, a ghost to include; screaming, running, or even calling a fictional film-inspired group of ghost hunting protagonists. But for Ed Wallis, the natural reaction was to sit down, muse and writing a song.

After lead singer of My Sad Captains, and non-believer, saw his first ghostly apparition, Ed decided to scrawl this new single to elucidate the notion of challenging various beliefs.

Yet, rather than haunting chords and spooky spine-tingling vocals, ‘Ghost Song’ is bursting with upbeat Indie melodies. It combines uplifting Folky guitars with lyrics that exude an endearing sort of simplicity, reminiscent to that of The Shins, to create a harmless, yet charming, musical treat.

And whilst after a few listens, the track, although catchy, has the potential to conjure waves of apathy in its innate hollowness, the five free b-sides that come with the single, demonstrate that these melancholy Sea men have a lot more depth than the title track suggests.

‘Make your Mark’, a truly standout four minutes, effortlessly captivates the listener with Ed’s vocals sounding raspy and tortured as he reveals /You dislocated my heart/ You’ve really made your mark/, in a way that articulates all the physical hurt of a break up with a painful style of accuracy. Similarly ‘Change of Scenery’, showcases the band’s both musical and lyrical darker side and draws inevitable comparisons of the band with the likes of Broken Social Scene and Iron and Wine.
deficit, may lack the sombre tones or dryness of their b-sides, it’s

Whilst new single, ‘Ghost Song’, is a frivolous and upbeat three minutes, perfect for the season, My Sad Captains’ most successful outputs seem to be the ones which are, well, sad. They scale the depths of human emotions in a way that appears completely unforced and simultaneously lace their lyrics with a unique illusion of simplicity. Something that would seem a winning formula and a beguiling quality.

Album Review - Pagan Wanderer Lu- Fight My Battles for Me - This is Fake DIY

As a strong believer that the music industry’s pretentious undercurrent of image-obsession, genre-diving and stereotype reproduction is something that is slowly destroying the quality of its output, the inability to be pigeon-holed, due to an album that darts across the board of all musical styles and tastes, is something I would normally wholeheartedly support an artist for. But sometimes, it goes wrong.

‘Fight My Battles For Me’ is a proverbial blender crammed full of noise rock, pop, psych, metal and folk, chucked in with lyrics that lack any real significance; something fully embodied by ‘The Gentleman’s Game’ which gets on it’s clichéd Daily Mail-esque soapbox with some vague and unnecessary reference to immigration.

The album possesses all the sporadic and chaotic tendencies of the likes of Modest Mouse and many of the lyrics are quite well thought out and rather quirky. But in the same way as The Blair Witch Project or a Lady Ga Ga outfit, Pagan Wanderer Lu’s, a.k.a. Andy Regan’s, brainchild just has far too much going on in it’s 50 minute duration (and yes, it is too long).

Whilst many eccentrics will perhaps revel in the unpredictable mishmash of this one man band, others will be left feeling like they’ve been penetrated by some camp model of propaganda as “Memorial Hall” spews the devoid lyric: /If there’s a point in the fighting/ Any point at all/ It’s so we can dance in the memorial hall/

Production wise, it’s clear that Regan has a talent and an overarching ability to produce truly different sounds and music that defies all music industry pigeon holing and classification. But this is somewhat whitewashed by the occasionally overpowering lo-fi and slightly boring attempt at social commentary.

Interview with Just Jack - Noize Makes Enemies

“So, do want me to call you, Just Jack or just…Jack?”

Perhaps not the most professional way to begin an early telephone interview on a Monday morning with one of pop music’s most astute artists, but it soon becomes clear that Jack Allsop is as down to earth as he is musically talented. Even after the success of his previous album, Jack seems to have remained rather humbled by his whole career:

“I never really expected to be in pop music so to be in this position, even beyond selling 10 albums is quite amazing. It was all quite accidental and I had never really planned to do this and so everything is a highlight for me.”

But after almost two years out of the spotlight, Just Jack is, well…back and newly inspired by the likes of Passion Pit and MSTRKRFT, as well as a range of Dance and Electro bands from Sinden and Diplo (“and that sort of ghetto house live music or whatever the fuck they call it!”), something that undoubtedly enriches the diversity of his new album:

“A bit of an electronic thing, an orchestral thing, a folky thing and a disco thing. A bit all over the place and more of the same experimenting with different types of music really and writing about stuff that you don’t normally hear about.”

You might not believe that these are the rather nonsense descriptive ramblings of one music’s most perceptive social commentators but explaining the foundations of his new album, All Night Cinema, it seems once again, Jack has used his winning formula to enhance his music with a variety of genres, styles and character fused narratives.

And new single, ‘The Day I Died’ is no exception. Out Monday, with lyrics like: /The day I died was the best day of my life/ Tell my friends and my kids and my wife/ Everything will be alright/, Jack has characteristically embodied all the dissatisfaction that people so often feel with life and combined it with his innate overarching ability to create a sort of soberness that is almost reassuring in it’s accuracy:

“’The Day I Died’ is probably my favourite track on the album because of a combination of things. It’s the one I’m most excited by. I’m just happy to have a tune out that’s so unlike everything else that’s out there. It’s sort of sad, but all the radio stations are still playing it.”

And Jack has even enlisted the help of James Nesbitt (of Cold Feet fame) to play a family man who, in a sort of ode to Bruce Willis in ‘The Sixth Sense’, spends the duration of the video going about an unusually good day, before realising he is already dead; having been hit by a London cab earlier on:

“It’s mad! I had a friend who knows him [James Nesbitt] and I just kind of asked if he would be around and interested in doing it and he was. It was mental filming it though on the day and just seeing how a high calibre actor works and seeing people in the street just double taking. You forget just how massively famous he is”

Based on the feedback that websites like YouTube demonstrate, it would seem that Jack has struck gold with his pairing of an excellent video with a uniquely poignant summer release. Something that is perhaps also demonstrated his jam-packed next few months:

“I’m doing Bestival in September, I’m going to Switzerland the day after tomorrow, The Electric Picnic in Ireland. I’ve been doing new music in my studio just for fun and a festival in France, as well as a European tour in October and hopefully a UK tour in November. It feels good to be doing stuff”

For an artist that struggled to find his way into the limelight, it seems that London-born Jack has finally found the footing he deserves. Bridging genres and musical styles in a way that is quite welcome in an industry that thrives on pigeonholing everything about artists from hairstyles to jeans, Just Jack looks set to finally enjoy the success and recognition he’s worked so hard for.

Interview with Emmy The Great

“Poets I read growing up, my ex-boyfriend, being in love, whatever CD I’ve become obsessed with before I write a song, my guitarist Euan.”

Whilst this may read like the neurotic hit list of a scorned lover, it is, in fact, the recipe of influences that make for the goose-bump provoking Folk tales of Emma Lee Moss, or Emmy The Great, as she is better known.

With a new EP, ‘Edward’, out later this month, her inspirations will no doubt once again be laid bare to listeners and prevail in the way that makes Emmy so endearing and easy to relate to. But what can fans expect from the twenty-five year old’s latest release?

“It’s actually old tracks, so if they are fans, they probably know them. It’s supposed to be an addendum to the album so it won’t particularly differ. We recorded them because they were requested a lot on tour and I suddenly realised they’d never been recorded.”

And having received positive press reviews for her debut album “First Love”, which Emmy released on her own label, Close Harbour, Emmy’s feet appear to have remained firmly fixed to the floor of realism. Something which is refreshing in someone who has achieved so much:

“I got into music mainly by accident and mainly by chasing boys in bands. The record label happened quite naturally. At first no one wanted to put out our music, and then by the time they did, we had a pretty good system of our own.

“I’m purposefully not very aware of what other people think of the album, just cause I learned a long time ago it will never be exactly what I wanted, but the feeling I get when I speak to people or when we play shows is that it’s gone better than I could have hoped. So I’m happy.”

Not just content with her own record label and a critically acclaimed release, Emmy The Great has also collaborated with the likes of Lightspeed Champion and Fatboy Slim:

“Writing songs with anyone is worthwhile, especially if you’re used to working on your own, because they remind you not to get stuck in a particular method. I’ve really benefited from all the collaborations I’ve done.”

Typically ambitious, Emmy has also dabbled in music journalism, demonstrating her innate magnetism to the partnership of music and writing. Having written for Drowned in Sound and The Stool Pigeon, she isn’t necessary ready to focus on just one career path for the time being, (which, based on her incredible song-writing ability, stirs up a slight panic for our job safety here at Noize!):

“I still think I will be a writer of some sort alongside this, the journalism is part of it. It started out as music, but now I’m branching out a bit, but it’s all on the side as I really enjoy making music right now.”

And Emmy’s writing will be further exemplified with the release of her new EP on 10^th August, which will come with a copy of her short story “The Wet and Windy Moors”.

For someone who seems to have the sort of enviable talent that makes them effortlessly brilliant at whatever they put their hand to, Emmy has the world at her fingertips. Luckily for us, she will be sticking to music and continuing to produce enchanting Folk for a while to come yet.

Interview with Charlie Waller (The Rumble Strips) - Noize Makes Enemies

/You’re not the only person to get it wrong. It’s alright/ As Charlie Waller’s vocals slide over The Rumble Strips’ trademark big band sound on their first release from their new studio album – the lyrics seem almost hypocritical of a band who appear unable to indeed, get it wrong.

But we will of course let them off. Even on the phone, Charlie is as every bit as charming as his band’s unashamedly unsubtle musical outbursts would suggest. Speaking about the highly anticipated second album, “Welcome to The Walk Home’, it seems the transition has brought out a change in tempo in the Devon hailing five-piece:

“There’s probably more orchestration on this. That’s the main big difference. This album is a bit more epic and slow burning, not as frantic as the first album. We’re getting old now, we haven’t got the energy anymore!”

Whilst the natural maturation of a band that have been blasted from their quaint South West roots to recording a follow up album in New York, may have played a big part in this audio modification, an additional helping hand from a certain Mark Ronson, is likely to have had just as much of an impact. A partnership that grew as smoothly as the band appears to have:

“We did a remix of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’ and Mark heard it and liked it. Then he asked me to sing our version and we did a couple of gigs together [including at The Royal Albert Hall].

“Mark producing the album was quite a gradual thing really too. He said he wanted to do a couple of songs for the album and just ended up producing all of them. He has a really definite drum sound which is good; he has 3 microphones on the drums, which give a real old school sound you can hear on the album.”

The refreshingly effortless and almost accidental collaboration between Ronson and The Rumble Strips on the new album demonstrate not only the natural and real talent of the band, but their infectious take-in-their stride approach to it all. Now five years on, the band seem to have come into their own, finding a sound that truly suits them and an album they’re especially proud of:

“We did an album launch for this album at Wiltons Music Hall, this really old music hall in East London, which was really good to play. A lot of our family and people who had been there along the way were there and we played the whole album through from start to finish with a big orchestra. There was just a really nice feeling there.”

With the album out in July, the band’s plans to spend the summer doing the usual festival circuits before starting a UK tour in September, it would seem that The Rumble Strips, along with their relentless penchant for instrumental whirlwinds that strike fans like a comet with ADHD, have not only grown up but are set to well and truly secure themselves a place on the radar of music lovers on a global scale. And rightly so.