Wild Beasts: touring an apocalyptic record

Back to being pissed off,” is how bassist Tom Fleming put it, in describing ‘Boy King’, the fifth album from Cumbria-to-London alt-electro-indie band Wild Beasts. “What I think he means by that,” says Chris Talbot, drummer with the band, “is this is album number five and although we’re not getting on a bit just yet, we’re thirty years old and I suppose it’s the next bench mark after you’ve turned 18 and 21. It feels like the end of your youth. But I think if you want to still be creative and making music and art you have to have fire in your belly. I think that’s what he means by being pissed off.”
And they’ve got their guitars back out for this one, in creating a bigger, more snarling and funked up sound. “I think ‘Boy King’ is an apocalyptic record,” says singer and lyricist Hayden Thorpe. “It’s about swimming in the abyss. When you think about sex, you’ve got to think about death, they’re one and the same.”
Along with guitarist Ben Little, Wild Beasts are all childhood (even primary school) friends from Kendal in Cumbria, before all heading to Leeds whereby Wild Beasts took off. Their chemistry, both on and off the stage is a huge factor. And five albums in they are one of the big success stories of UK indie these last few years.