The Clientele

Last updated

The Clientele
Origin London, England
Genres Indie pop
Years active1991–present
Labels
MembersAlasdair MacLean
Mark Keen
James Hornsey
Past membersMel Draisey
Innes Phillips
Daniel Evans
Howard Monk
Website Official website

The Clientele are a British indie pop band based in London, which formed in 1991. The band are currently composed of lead singer/guitarist Alasdair MacLean, drummer Mark Keen and bassist James Hornsey. Since their inception, the Clientele have released eight albums and five EPs.

Contents

The band have toured extensively in the United States, where they have experienced more success than in their native Britain. They are currently signed to Merge Records, a North-Carolina based independent record label owned by members of Superchunk.

History

MacLean and Hornsey both grew up in Hampshire, England, and began collaborating musically while still in school, after MacLean saw that Hornsey had written the name of the band Felt on his pencil case. The band formed in 1991, with Innes Phillips sharing singing and songwriting duties with MacLean; their original name was The Butterfly Collectors. The band recorded an album's worth of material but failed to get any label interest. Innes left the band (and would go on to found The Relict); the rest of the group re-formed in 1997, after which they moved to London and released a number of singles that were eventually collected on Suburban Light (2000). That compilation won the band glowing reviews; SF Weekly said the band "offers a brand of appealingly melancholy pop that might just surpass that of its forebears." [1] The Violet Hour (2003) was their first album proper, which again saw great acclaim, but, as yet, little commercial success.

August 2005 saw the release of their second album, Strange Geometry , the first the band recorded with a producer, Brian O'Shaughnessy, who had previously produced Primal Scream. It was notable for a much cleaner production sound than the reverb-heavy sound that had previously been their defining characteristic; it was also the first time the band had used a strings section on one of their records. The task of writing these arrangements was given to Louis Philippe. One single, "Since K Got Over Me", was released from the album. Another song from the album, "(I Can't Seem) To Make You Mine", was featured on the soundtrack of the film The Lake House .

Strange Geometry was quickly followed by a collection of recordings from 1991 to 1996, featuring Innes Phillips, called It's Art, Dad. After a U.S. tour in August 2006, The Clientele became a four-piece again, adding Mel Draisey (on violin, keys and percussion), who became their first female member. They then recorded the album God Save The Clientele with producer Mark Nevers, known for his work with Merge labelmates Lambchop; the album again featured several Louis Philippe-composed string arrangements. God Save The Clientele was released in May 2007 in the United States. Bonfires on the Heath followed in October 2009, and Minotaur, a Mini-LP, was released on 17 July 2010.

On 6 July 2011, the band announced on its website that The Clientele would be taking an indefinite hiatus. MacLean subsequently spent time on a project called Amor de Días, a collaboration with Spanish vocalist and instrumentalist Lupe Núñez-Fernández (of the indie pop duo Pipas). Amor de Días released two albums between 2011 and 2013. [2]

The band announced that it would reunite for a lone gig at The Bell House in Brooklyn on 21 March 2014.

Since then, the 'Suburban Light' album has been reissued with bonus tracks and gave the band a Billboard top 30 album for the first time in their history. [3] They also released two new singles in 2014, 'Falling Asleep' [4] and 'On A Summer Trail'. [5] The band have continued to tour in both the US [6] and Europe, [7] and MacLean is writing songs which may constitute a forthcoming album. [8] On 24 March 2016, the group's official Facebook page posted an image of the mixing board at Brian O'Shaughnessy's Bark Studios in London, with the implication that the group were recording new material. On 16 June 2017, the band announced a new album, Music for the Age of Miracles , and a tour.

In July 2023, the band released their seventh studio album, I Am Not There Anymore .

Style

Their music has often been noted for its reverb-rich production [9] and MacLean's distinctive breathy vocals (an effect achieved partly by MacLean singing with a microphone plugged into a guitar amplifier) and fingerstyle guitar technique. Their lyrics take a strong inspiration from surrealist literature and art from the early 20th century; "We Could Walk Together" quotes a line ("like a silver ring thrown into the flood of my heart") from a 1928 poem by French surrealist Joë Bousquet; in its final two verses, the song "What Goes Up" quotes the poem "Stupidity Street" by Ralph Hodgson in its entirety. [ citation needed ]

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Split singles

Music videos

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian MacKaye</span> American singer and record label owner

Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label, and the frontman of hardcore punk band Minor Threat and post-hardcore band Fugazi. MacKaye was also the bassist for the short-lived band the Teen Idles, and frontman for Embrace, and Pailhead, a collaboration with the band Ministry. MacKaye is a member of The Evens, a two-piece indie rock group he formed with his wife Amy Farina in 2001 and in 2018 formed the band Coriky with Farina and his Fugazi band mate Joe Lally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superchunk</span> American rock band

Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s. Their energetic, high-velocity style and do-it-yourself ethic is influenced by punk rock, notably such bands as Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, Minutemen, and Buzzcocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School of Fish</span> American alternative rock band

School of Fish was an alternative rock band which formed in 1989 and disbanded in 1994. The core members were Josh Clayton-Felt and Michael Ward (guitar). School of Fish released two albums and are remembered for the hit single "3 Strange Days" (1991).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonfire (band)</span> German rock band

Bonfire is a German hard rock/heavy metal band, founded by Hans Ziller in Ingolstadt in 1972. In 1986, based on the advice of the record company and the management, the band changed its name to Bonfire. Original founder Ziller is still in the band and is the only one who has the rights to the Bonfire name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alasdair Roberts (musician)</span> Scottish folk musician

Alasdair Roberts is a Scottish folk musician. He released a number of albums under the name Appendix Out and, following the 2001 album The Night Is Advancing, under his own name. Roberts is also known for his frequent collaborations with other musicians and writers, as well as for being a member of the folk supergroup The Furrow Collective.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCarthy (band)</span> British indie pop band

McCarthy were a British indie pop band, formed in Barking, Greater London, England in 1984 by schoolmates Malcolm Eden and Tim Gane with John Williamson and Gary Baker (drums). Lætitia Sadier later joined the band on vocals for their final studio album.

The following is a list of releases by Merge Records. Merge Records was established in 1989 and released its first album in 1992. By 2012, the label had released more than 450 releases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egypt Central</span> American rock band

Egypt Central is an American alternative metal band from Memphis, Tennessee.

<i>God Save The Clientele</i> 2007 studio album by The Clientele

God Save The Clientele is the fourth studio album by British indiepop band The Clientele. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, it broadens the band's palette through the use of pedal steel and slide guitar. The album is also the first to feature Mel Draisey as the official fourth member of the band. Pat Sansone of Wilco plays on the majority of the songs on God Save The Clientele. It was released on Merge Records on 8 May 2007 in the US, although it leaked onto the internet in March 2007. It was released in the UK in September 2007 by The Track & Field Organisation.

<i>Strange Geometry</i> 2005 studio album by The Clientele

Strange Geometry is the third studio album by English indie pop band The Clientele. The album was released on 30 August 2005 by Merge Records and on 5 September 2005 by Pointy Records. It was recorded in Walthamstow, London, and received generally positive reviews upon release.

<i>Suburban Light</i> 2000 studio album by The Clientele

Suburban Light is the debut studio album by English indie pop band The Clientele. The album was released on 28 November 2000 by Pointy Records in the United Kingdom. In 2001, it was released by Merge Records in the United States. Suburban Light contains several tracks originally released on singles and compilations from 1997 through 2000, causing some websites such as Pitchfork to label it a compilation album.

<i>The Violet Hour</i> (album) 2003 studio album by The Clientele

The Violet Hour is the second studio album by English indie pop band The Clientele. The album was released on 8 July 2003 by Merge Records and Pointy Records. It is the band's first proper full-length album composed primarily of new material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asher Roth</span> American rapper from Pennsylvania

Asher Paul Roth is an American rapper. He is best known for his debut single "I Love College". Roth released his debut studio album Asleep in the Bread Aisle, on April 20, 2009, by Universal Motown, SRC, and School Boy Records; the latter of which was launched by Roth's former manager Scooter Braun. Roth later left Schoolboy Records in late 2012, due to creative differences with Braun. In 2013, Roth signed with indie record label Federal Prism, on which he released his second studio album, RetroHash.

<i>Bonfires on the Heath</i> 2009 studio album by The Clientele

Bonfires on the Heath is the fifth studio album by English indie pop group The Clientele. The album was released on 6 October 2009 by Merge Records in the United States and on 16 November 2009 by Pointy Records in the United Kingdom.

Cado Belle were a Scottish rock group prominent in the pub rock scene of the mid-1970s, and are notable for making the first recordings featuring singer Maggie Reilly who went on to have success with Mike Oldfield and as a solo artist. Band member Colin Tully achieved some fame with the soundtrack of the critically acclaimed film, Gregory's Girl. Their genre has also been described as Scottish soul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speedy Ortiz</span> American indie rock band

Speedy Ortiz is an American indie rock band from Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. Originally a solo project for founder Sadie Dupuis, from 2011 a full band incarnation has released three EPs and three LPs mostly on Carpark Records. As of 2022, the band consists of Dupuis, Audrey Zee Whitesides, Andy Molholt, and Joey Doubek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlotte OC</span> Musical artist

Charlotte Mary O'Connor, better known by her stage name Charlotte OC, is a British singer-songwriter.

<i>Music for the Age of Miracles</i> 2017 studio album by the Clientele

Music for the Age of Miracles is the sixth studio album by English indie pop band the Clientele. It was released on 22 September 2017 by Merge Records in the United States and Tapete Records in Europe.

<i>Asleep at the Wheel</i> (album) 1974 studio album by Asleep at the Wheel

Asleep at the Wheel is the second album by American western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. Produced by Norro Wilson at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, it was released in September 1974 as the group's first album on Epic Records. As with its predecessor Comin' Right at Ya, Asleep at the Wheel's self-titled album featured a mix of traditional and original compositions, including songs written by popular country musicians Rex Griffin, Cindy Walker and Hank Penny.

<i>I Am Not There Anymore</i> 2023 studio album by The Clientele

I Am Not There Anymore is the seventh studio album by British indie pop band the Clientele, released on 28 July 2023 by Merge Records. It has received positive reviews from critics.

References

  1. ↑ Archived 27 January 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "Pitchfork review "The House at Sea";". Pitchfork. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  3. ↑ "HL007 - the third hangover lounge picture disc | Hangover Lounge Records". Hangoverloungerecords.bandcamp.com. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "The Clientele / King Khan & The Shrines* / Destroyer (4) - Falling Asleep / Orpheus Avenue / Know Your Product / Te Recuerdo Amanda (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. April 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "The Clientele / Birdie (2) - The Third Hangover Lounge Picture Disc (Vinyl)". Discogs.com. 21 July 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Clientele Announce Summer Tour | News". Pitchfork. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "The Clientele / Shows". Theclientele.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Philip Runco (16 July 2014). "BYT Interviews The Clientele (2014) - BrightestYoungThings - DC". BrightestYoungThings. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "A Sense of Falling: Strange Geometry Outtakes". The Clientele on Bandcamp. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  11. ↑ Merge Records on Youtube (8 April 2014), The Clientele "Reflections After Jane" (Official Music Video), archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 16 September 2018
  12. ↑ Merge Records on Youtube (2 November 2007), The Clientele - Bookshop Casanova, archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 16 September 2018
  13. ↑ Merge Records on Youtube (9 August 2017), The Clientele - Everyone You Meet (Official Music Video), archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 16 September 2018
  14. ↑ Merge Records on Youtube (31 October 2017), The Clientele - The Neighbour (Official Music Video), archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 16 September 2018
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.