Snow Patrol

Snow Patrol’s Nathan Connolly on his band’s expansive new record…

Studio: Eagle’s Watch, Malibu; Threshold Sound + Vision, Santa Monica, Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee’s Home Studio, Topanga Canyon
Producer: Garret ‘Jacknife’ Lee
Tracks: ‘New York’, ‘I’ll Never Let Go’, ‘Signs Of Life’, ‘The Garden Rules’, ‘Fallen Empires’, ‘Lifening’, ‘This Isn’t Everything You Are’, ‘Called Out
In The Dark’
Due: Autumn
Label: Fiction

Hi Nathan, when did you start working on the new album?
We decamped to LA in December last year; we were really keen to get started. We had a few false starts and Gary had a bit of writer’s block with lyrics. We tried to get over that by rehearsing and jamming, which we hadn’t really done before, but it wasn’t that fruitful. It was a strange time. I wasn’t worried, but we had moments of ‘shit, do we remember how to do this?’ Any great record that’s been made in the past has had its share of drama; ours wasn’t without its demons.

How did you get past that?
We were basically relearning how to make music; it’s the best record we’ve made, but also the most difficult. That made it feel better when we finished it, getting past the frictions, challenges, false starts – all these things are positives looking back. It was great to be together in the sunshine, that had a positive effect, but pressure comes up no matter what. The success of the recording process was down to talking and being honest with each other. There’s always going to be politics that exist outside the music, we needed to put that away and focus on the songs. This album represents the band’s personality; we all piped up and got involved.

What does the record sound like?
It doesn’t sound the way people will expect. Gary’s a great songwriter, so we wanted to have those classic Snow Patrol songs, just presented differently. We wanted to move forward and not make the music we’d made before. Some songs, like the poppier singles, are not necessarily the best example of who Snow Patrol are. This time we made the record that we heard in our heads. There was lots of discussion about making it rawer, less polished and more live-sounding – even all the electronics and dancier bits were played rather than sequenced. There’s gospel, soul, country, rock – all underpinned by our signature sound. Expect change and progression and just go with it!

How did being in LA affect the album?
We hired a house in the hills in Malibu with a 360° view of the ocean and the mountains. The surroundings were calm, beautiful and incredibly inspiring, but it’s the people that make it and I’m not sure that we’re the calmest band! My favourite thing was how relaxed and healthy the attitude to life is. There was lots of walking and talking but I must confess, we spent a few nights in the local bar! We just wanted to change, not be stuck in our ways. We weren’t afraid to do it before, maybe we didn’t know how, or we weren’t ready. The real challenge was not to be polished and to embrace mistakes and challenges. Everything happens for a reason, we’re better musicians so we were much more prepared this time.

Bonus Factoids:
Nathan didn’t spot any Hollywood A-listers living down the same street as the band. Shame.
Snow Patrol’s rented house was decorated with fairy lights, “just like Christmas!”
Johnny’s wife took care of the furniture, though.
Nathan likes LA, but misses walking up, “a nice cobbled street to a decent pub”.