Its Automatic

Description

In many ways the music industry is like a school playground, a furtive cesspit of name-calling, oneupmanship, and competitive jousting. This is particularly true of the UK indie scene where more than one band often vies for the same audience at the same time. Since 2007, the socially anchored, Coventry power rock trio led by lead singer and main songwriter Tom Clarke havent been afraid to shed a tonne of bravado as a shield for some deep-seeded insecurities mainly Toms own personal hang-ups. Considering he called his band The Enemy, the frontman certainly knew how to make a few back in the late 00s, and gave as good as he got. Hed make fun of The Horrors hair and find himself banned from being played on Alex Zanes XFM rock show. Alex was an avid supporter of the band but Tom just couldnt help himself. The circus surrounding these dramatic episodes resulted in The Enemy having their music overshadowed by meaningless tattle. Its something that Tom today, speaking with hindsight from a carpark outside a studio where hes putting the finishing touches on the bands fourth record in less-than-glamorous Stockport, wants to bury deep in the past

Over the course of The Enemys undoubtedly successful run during the best part of a decade, Tom has inevitably had to do some growing up. Alongside his band mates Andy Hopkins (bass) and Liam Watts (drums), he can boast a hat-trick of top-performing records with Number 1 album We Live And Die In These Towns, 2008s Number 2 follow-up Music For The People and 2012 release Streets In The Sky, which also went Top 10. A source of greater pride, however, its that today he emerges not just more mature, but with a charming sense of humility and open-mindedness. Hearing him talk freely and honestly about how much he loves genius James Blunts Twitter, or how excited he is by the likes of pop artist BORNS being played on Huw Stephens Radio 1 show, immediately throws off any misconceptions surrounding the tricky fella. Hes less guarded, more confident in his own skin, and therefore extremely good company. This new found clarity is something thats made for a thrilling next musical chapter in The Enemys career. Still only in their mid-to-late 20s, and younger than the bands they emerged with and outsold theyre readying their most ambitious record, Its Automatic, for release this October. Weve been working on it for a long time, says Tom. Its a fucking great record. It was difficult to make but not in a bad way. To people who are still living in 2007 itll be a shock but to us its a natural progression. The birth of the record came when the band were on tour in Scotland, and the evolved Tom was having a crisis of identity. I sat Andy down and said, Mate, I dont wanna make another Enemy record. Im bored. Weve nailed what we do, I wanna go and do solo stuff and make music like the music I listen to. And he said, So do I. So we decided to take a leap of faith together. Tom warns that theres a possibility people wont get it. But the songs are some of the best Ive ever written, the production is brilliant and you have to put the fear behind you, he says, with defiance.

It seems that in the eyes of their fanbase, The Enemy cant possibly disappoint. Theyve toured non-stop and their crowds have provided a security blanket for the band even when theyre not making records. Last Christmas the trio sold out a UK tour having not released an album in three years. We dont want to piss the entire fanbase off but you kind of have to go, Fuck it! I remember thinking on the first record that Id had 30 interviews to get a job before landing one at the Co-op, and now I was going to jack it in to go do music because someone told me there was a record deal on the table. Its fucking terrifying. What if people dont like this record and it kills the band? If it doesnt pay off then at least we took the risk. I find it really exciting that we will get new fans with this album. People who might then go back and listen to We Live And Die In These Towns and think its shit. Thats kinda exciting. The bands compulsion to challenge and reinvigorate themselves has made them far more ambitious with the parameters of their sound. One listen to future singles Its Automatic, Waterfall and Everybody Needs Someone will leave you with a clear sense of The Enemys aspiration to pack out stadiums, never mind sell out the likes of Shepherds Bush Empire. Tom, however, insists that wasnt the intention some of the tracks here date as far back as the beginning. Back when we were doing the first album we were making music within set lines. Now thats all disappeared and the record is dictating its own direction. Were just going for it, he says. Weve had a geeky obsession with what other people are doing and where theyre pushing boundaries.

Toms past experience leaves him far warier during todays call of name-checking other bands at all, even those who have inspired Its Automatic. After some prodding, he relents. OK. The thing that triggered it for me was The Horrors latest album. He laughs. Someone said to me, Look, I know how you feel about The Horrors but you gotta listen to this. I put it on and went, Fuck! This is brilliant. I was shocked they could transform their sound so amazingly. That was the match that started the fire.

It may surprise The Enemys doubters to hear that Tom was lapping up the likes of electronic artist Kavinsky and the acoustic nuances of Death Cab For Cuties latest album. We were borrowing production techniques from everyone whos doing exciting things at the moment. Music that we would never have listened to. Were older now, we get tired of listening to the same stuff. And I love pop! Theres no getting away from the fact that in 30 years time well still all wanna sing to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper because its genius. The Enemy arent going fully A-ha, though. Its the Drive soundtrack with the drums from Phantogram, Cold War Kids bass sound but with a chorus written by me, explains Tom. He attributes a lot of this inspiration to producer Gethin Pearson who force-fed him that Horrors album and the likes of New York shoegaze outfit Diiv.

Lyrically, Toms outgrown social commentary and the political ramblings of the past, despite his recent Facebook outbursts lamenting the lack of decent socialist voices on the UKs band scene. They were at their most political when coming-of-age, but Tom is happy to leave that all to some new young torchbearer now. Nah, Ive had quite a few relationships now and all of them have gone wrong in one way or another! he chuckles, revealing that Its Automatic is potentially his most personal record yet. The most effective way for me to deal with a fallout or a bit of emotional excitement is to make songs. The songs on this record are about having a fucking amazing feeling, driving a convertible down a highway in LA. Do you know what I mean? Thats something I couldnt have written before because Id never had that experience.

Toms refreshing lack of front has allowed him to open up in the most endearing way. Hes laid himself bare to the public in the past year, most impressively via a brave and lucidly written column for trade paper Music Week last September about his own personal struggles with depression and mental illness, which hes suffered from since he was 16. At many times during my adulthood Ive battled with the overwhelming urge to take my own life, he wrote, while explicitly discussing the tirade of abuse hes been subjected to by the music industry throughout his 20s, largely due to his appearance. He mentions how Time Out called him a Gnome and a Hobbit, among other things. He also spoke about the goading hed experience as a young lad in a breakthrough band, encouraged to talk down about his peers, relegating himself to a pawn fuelling the soap opera of the likes of the NME. Today he sounds apologetic (Anyone whos ever been on the receiving end of anything Ive said that was out of order, Id like to make amends with) and ready to put all that in the past. He reveals how making music for him is a necessity but it can be extremely hard and the temptation to give up is there. I think Ive been a nightmare to be in a band with at times, he says, jovially. I dont think Im the easiest person to work with. Andy in particular is involved in the writing and has been extremely patient with me. They both have. I owe them a lot. Sometimes youre in a dark place and you cant write a fucking chorus. When you deal with depression on a daily basis, its not that you struggle to get up to do one thing, its that you struggle to get up. It wouldnt matter if I wrote music or I was a lawyer, depression just fucks you. You forget what youre good at, you feel like you cant do anything. In music its particularly vicious. Its a weird old industry.

So what is it about music that still has a hold over Tom? I dont get the same buzz out of anything else. That feeling Theres a video on my phone thats kept me going during times when I would have otherwise given up. We played T In The Park and the crowd were singing our song back to us. That feeling when youve just had sex and the world feels amazing and you couldnt give a shit and all the problems that were massive a minute ago no longer are. Its that feeling, times an absolute billion. I wonder if the medias reassessment of The Enemy matters to him, when it seems that some of Toms contemporaries Kasabian, The Vaccines etc will grace the pages of the music press regardless of their output? Not any more, he says, convincingly. I used to really, really give a shit what the music press wrote about us. Id open a magazine and if it wasnt us in there Id be like, Oh why? Id like people to say Its Automatic is good when we release it and for radio to play it. Equally I live in the real world. Just cos I like it doesnt mean everyone else will. This album isnt about proving anything. Perhaps the fact Tom is ready to forgive and forget means that karma will operate in his favour too.

On a personal front, The Enemy appear to have achieved what they set out to do. Weve made an album were ridiculously proud of, says Tom. Weve pushed ourselves, weve not played it safe, weve progressed as musicians. Its fucking awesome and if nobody else ever plays it then at least were happy. That said, there are milestones in his sights. We have the songs and production to headline festivals, he says. Im not gonna play it cool and say were not that fussed about doing that. We really are. We give a shit about that. We just give a shit, full stop.