"Wow really love these guys sound, its exactly what this country needs at the moment,a true voice and a true talent" Chris O'Dowd, It Crowd

By their fourth live performance, consummate Glasgow three-piece Oswald were fighting in the Scottish final of a global new-music talent search. Thinking the competition might be a bit of fun they hastily formed, scrambled a few songs together, and signed up to the event at a hotel on Oswald Street. “We didn’t have a name, so that was literally decided on the morning as we got there”, front man Tom says of the Happy Mondays-esque move.

Inspired by his dad’s eclectic and “awesome” record collection, Tom writes songs with as broad a brush as any sonically mature outfit would, covering the strident melodies of The Rolling Stones to The Hours, with a sense of epicness akin to U2. Unsurprising then that former U2 A&R Nick Stewart found in Oswald a sound which he describes as being “the real deal”. Being exposed to different music in their collective adolescence, Oswald instantly hit on a big pop sound which, while being gentle, has a commanding lyrical and melodious clout; putting their songs carefully between confident and the vulnerable.

“Songs tend to fly around and land on our laps”, say the band on their uncontrived approach to that well-balanced, honest and, as they would avow, down-to-earth Oswald sound. Lyrically they cover the world with a bit more maturity than their new music contemporaries, taking the social commentary of James and articulation of the Manic Street Preachers into a Coldplay, massively-rounded and fluent, platform of popmanship with a slight cue to Scottish nostalgia.

Not that the band would use their proud heritage as a gimmick, Oswald state for the record, “We’re a Scottish band, but we’ve no chip on our shoulder. We’re not the kind of people to support ‘the other team’ whenever England play for instance”. Their approachability, and the fact they make music slightly removed from the scenester template has led newly formed R and R Music, spearheaded by former EMI boss Eric Nicoli, to sign the band up as a flagship act.

Whether they’re writing from the almost uncomfortably, deeply personal or wonderfully, fuzzily accessibly, they aim to make a noise anybody can get behind and find some element to lose themselves in. From verbose brass sections to ruthless, chord chomping progressions, their ambitious and all-embracing songs are set for widespread domination over the coming months as Oswald release a series of singles, kicking off with ‘These Days’ on download and 10” vinyl.