More on: The Lodger

We've named The Lodger's debut 'Grown-Ups' the album of 2007 at Clickmusic, as it's quite possibly perfection.

We catch up with founder, frontman and songwriter Ben Siddall for a chat about our favourite LP, and what the band are up to next.

As it's our favourite album of the year, we're going to force you to pick your favourite child as such - go on, which of the tracks are you secretly proudest of?
Difficult... probably 'Unsatisfied' at a push, completely happy with both the lyrics and the music, a good all-rounder!

You've got the astonishing and rare knack of sounding comfortingly familiar yet stop-in-your-tracks fresh. How did you work with your producer Alan Smyth to achieve this? Was there anything you wanted to avoid during the recording?
The problem you have when you're recording an album with hardly any money in the pot, you need to get good results extremely quickly. I wanted to avoid wasting time in the studio, so I did all my preparation before we went in there so it was just four or five days of solid focussed work. We did it really fast and I was after a no-frills set of simple pop songs at that time. As for familiar/fresh, I don't know really, I just want to make the songs sound as best they can!

What has been your favourite bit of feedback about the album, from critics or otherwise?
Anyone who has got anything positive out of the album is a good thing to me. I used to religiously read all our reviews at the beginning and would be heartbroken and inconsolable for days if anyone said anything negative, however small. I soon realised that if you pay serious attention to any negative or positive criticism, it drives you crazy. I just like to concentrate on writing the songs these days, those who will like it will like it, those who won't, won't.

You've had some line-up changes since the release of 'Grown-Ups'. Can you tell us where The Lodger - the band are now?
Yes, since the release of the first album we've switched drummers, adding Bruce, and also we've added an extra member for live performances, Tim - he plays second guitar and occasional lap steel.

'Grown-Ups' seems to have been well-received in the States, making Amazon.com's Top Albums of 2007, and with good airplay. You've just toured the US for the first time - how did that go?
Yes indeed, with Slumberland Records we've got a label over there who do things for exactly the right reasons. Mike who runs it owns about 30,000 LPs and has genuinely never heard of The Killers. This is very cool in my book. The Amazon thing was a bit odd, but nice to hear. The tour was cool, particuarly New York - got to pretend I was in a Woody Allen film for a few days, which is always a bonus.

The album was a long time coming for your fans, and it must've been satisfying to finally get it out there. You started writing your next album in the summer, around the time of the release - did it feel like a chapter was closed at all?
You're right yes, it was a long time coming. That was for various reasons. I had the songs ready for some time it was just a case of getting into the studio and getting them recorded. It was the end of part one for me yes, the whole process of that album I found somewhat bitty - it was a collection of songs written over a three year period, so it felt a little more like a compilation than an actual record. The second album, which we've just finished recording, feels much more like a "real album" to me, just because all the songs were written in one go and then recorded and mixed over a one month period. We had much longer to record this new one too which helped. I'm very proud of it!

Can you tell us about any of your new tracks, and if your sound or themes have changed this time round?
After 'Grown-Ups' it was a case of taking stock for me and taking time out to mull things over. I thought "right, I've done that, what's next?" I was really, really chuffed with it, but some kind of progression had to be made or I'd just come out with the same thing again. With lots of indie bands it's more of the same, but an inferior version because the songs aren't as good. I thought I'd try hard to avoid that. I've been listening a lot of music that is a bit more textural, a lot of 80s pop like early Prefab Sprout and Aztec Camera, bit of Go-Betweens, 60s pop like The Beatles, Beach Boys and The Byrds, and the records of Phil Spector and Joe Meek. Just immersing myself in music for a while and hoping something good will rub off on me. The album has more peaks and troughs and highs and lows than the first album, a bit more to get your teeth into. The emphasis is still very much on melody and trying to make perfect pop though. There's a track on it called 'The Good Old Days' which is the poppiest thing we've ever recorded.

Who is producing your next album?
Alan Smyth again. He just knows exactly what to do. We had a few options but couldn't resist going back to the shed in Sheffield with no central heating, toilet or cooking facilities.

Are the new songs being played on your current dates?
Yep, we've been playing loads of them, need to get them all rehearsed up you see!

What's been your band highlight of 2007?
Going to America to be honest. Wanted to go all my life but never been able to afford it. That's one of the big perks of doing a band, you get to go to odd and faraway places you'd never expect and probably never get the chance to go to. Sat in a diner somewhere in North Carolina thinking, I'm here because I wrote a song. Bizarre.

Are you still recording the new album? What will be The Lodger's plans for early 2008?
We've done the album now, just waiting to master it just before Christmas. Early 2008 will be taken up with sorting out a load of logistical things to do with that, and then hopefully it will be out in April and we'll be doing loads of touring and getting people interested in album #2.

Finally, what do you think is the best album of 2007?
I must admit I don't listen to an enormous amount of new music, it's getting increasingly rare to find something that geniunely excites. LCD Soundsystem's 'Sound Of Silver' was bloody brilliant though - peerless.

Becky Reed

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