David Bowie, The Specials, Gorillaz, Sex Pistols, Blur, The Cure, The Strokes, Phil Lynnot, LCD Soundsystem, U2, Tosca, Dizzee Rascal, Statik, Bauhaus, Squeeze, Serge Gainsbourg, The Smiths, Wire, Television, Iggy Pop & the Stooges, Talking Heads,
Two years and four days, to be precise, separate the release of the third Rakes album, ‘Klang’ (March 23, this year) and the second, ‘Ten New Messages’ (March 19 2007). Lots of things have changed. Generally speaking, no one smokes in pubs anymore, everyone's on Twitter, there’s a black president and those 22 grand jobs in the city are most definitely NOT alright; musically speaking, most bands who emerged at the same time as The Rakes are no more, while Laura Marling, a then-unknown guest on ‘Suspicious Eyes’ from ‘Ten New Messages’ is a bona fide Mercury-nominated star.
And The Rakes themselves? Turns out they’ve been doing all kinds of stuff: living in Brazil (bassist Jamie), helping other bands (drummer Lasse) and going back to college to study for a Masters in philosophy (guitarist Matthew, still studying). The term for it is “doing your own thing”, a necessary non-evil when you’ve spent the best part of half a decade living in each others’ pockets. “Up until all the festivals in 2007 from pretty much when we started was pretty much non-stop” notes singer Alan, who for his own part divided this time between working on a building site and learning piano in the evenings. “It’s always good to get out of the cycle of touring-recording-touring-recording,” adds Matthew. “It’s good to go out there and do other stuff. We needed that time, because then you come back to it with a fresh perspective, with new ideas for what you want.”
On reconvening, then, certain decisions were taken about the third Rakes record. For starters, the song selection process would be much more stringent. “On the second album, we went in to the studio with seven songs written, and came out with ten,” says Jamie. “This time, we narrowed it down from a much larger pool of songs. We wanted to write for a year, then record it quickly.” Second, this was to be a record about rawness and energy, the sound of a four piece band in a room. “The second album was all about trying to expand the sound,” continues Matthew. “Working with producers like Brendan Lynch and Jim Abbiss. This one was in the opposite direction. That very, simple direct thing. Doing it in two weeks, a song a day, not embellishing things at all and just capturing ‘a performance’.”
“Then the test on top of that was, ‘Does it work live?’” adds Lasse. “We were still doing gig in the year off, but just in new areas, like Bangkok, Singapore. So all the songs on this album were tried out live plenty of times. That was important.”
“There were lots of rules,” concludes Jamie. “Like literally, if there were two bars of a song that weren’t doing anything, just get rid of them. Just like, no flab whatsoever.”
There was most certainly a clearly laid out plan this time around, but the other thing that defines ‘Klang’ is the location of this new, regimented recording: Berlin, scene of so many musical triumphs, so many musical rebirths (we all know who we’re talking about here). The recording itself, as previously mentioned, was to take no longer than two weeks, away from the distractions of London. But, even outside of that, The Rakes spent much of the year darting back and forth between their home city and this fresh, seductive location – an adventure that reignited the gang mentality between the four members, seeking out new thrills together in the sometimes lawless, unique environment proffered by the German capital. “We drove there together, we lived in an apartment on Karl Marx Allee together, got the tram to work together… then we’d all go out together at night. It was amazing,” says Matthew. “It’s a very interesting place. The studio we recorded it at was on the outskirts of Berlin called The Funkhaus which means radio station in German."
“…and it was the centre for broadcast recordings in eastern Germany,” continues Jamie (it’s clear at this point that all the band found the city, and specifically the studio and its sense of history incredibly inspiring). “There were 6,000 people who worked there, but when the wall came down and the GDR collapsed, everyone just literally got up and walked out. So there are still, like, account sheets lying around on the desks in parts of the complex. This place where secrets were kept and propaganda was made, and now it’s just derelict. It’s a very eerie place to walk around. There’s an atmosphere there that you just can’t compare to anywhere else…”
“The microphone I used for vocals, too,” explains Alan, “was from the ’50s, and the people at the studio were saying that it was used by the leaders of east Germany – Walter Ulbricht, Eric Honecker – for public service announcements…”
Lasse: “… and the whole place just had this odd… almost apocalyptic feel.”
The results of such an environment and preparation are obvious: ‘Klang’ is a record of svelte, lissom. “It’s ten songs are brief, with not one of them reaching three-and-a-half minutes. Throughout the barely controlled, chaotic energy of the first Rakes album (and even their earliest gigs) has returned to the fore, but now it is well drilled, clinically executed. It does sound, as intended, “like a four piece band in a room”, for which credit must go to producer Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, Inouk, Asobi Seksu, Passion Pit)).
Essentially, it is a well-thought-through piece of work by a band that have been through the hype machine, taken a step back and realised their strengths. Importantly, it is a natural sounding album.
“I am more proud of this record than anything we have ever done,” says Lasse.
“It’s the essence of The Rakes, for me. I just think incredibly highly of it.” says Jamie.
“The only way you can really measure the success of an album is, ‘Did you succeed in what you set out to do’, and on this album, we absolutely have done. We know what The Rakes is about: that energy, shortness, abruptness, directness, and this record definitely captures that.” says Matt.
“It was the most enjoyable experience in terms of making an album that I’ve had, and from that I think it’s the strongest album we’ve made. For certain,” says Alan.
Been a while, hasn’t it? But, as it turns out, a worthwhile while…
KLANG.
You're In It
That's the Reason
The Loneliness of the Outdoor Smoker
Bitchin' in the Kitchin'
The Woes Of The Working Woman
1989
Shackleton
The Light From Your Mac
Muller's Ratchet
The Final Hill
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