A twist in the whale

London folk-rock collective Noah And The Whale enjoyed a surprise hit earlier this year with their debut album, Peaceful The World Lays Me Down, which charted in the UK top five on the back of support from influential BBC DJs Huw Stephens and Zane Lowe. Have the group’s lives changed dramatically as a result of their success?
“Well, we’ve been a band for a couple of years now,” replies Noah And The Whale singer, Charlie Fink. “Someone said something to me the other day which sums it up really – ‘How does it feel to be a two-year overnight success?’ There’s something to that, because we’ve been touring and sleeping on floors since 2006. We were even doing well – we sold-out the Scala in London before any radio or press had got hold of it. Then suddenly, it becomes this bigger thing. But things don’t really change. We’re doing the same stuff we’ve always been doing, except on a bigger scale.”
Although Peaceful The World Lays Me Down is a collection of sweetly melodic folk, Noah And The Whale do have a more sonically aggressive side. At a one-off gig earlier this year, the group played a collection of B-sides – most of which are wailing punk numbers – under the alternate name The A-Sides. Indeed, Charlie maintains the band’s second album could find them exploring significantly different musical terrain.
“We’ve already started making the new record,” he reveals. “We were demoing last week and got seven tracks down. It’s a very different direction. To be honest, if the last record was optimistic, this is definitely pessimistic. There are electric guitars and distorted harmoniums; it’s kind of weird, I wouldn’t really know how to describe it. It’s maybe more atmospheric and moody than the last record, although the melodies are still in there.”
Does the divide between folk and anti-folk mean much to Noah And The Whale?
“I think anti-folk is more of an ethic than a sound,” considers Charlie. “From what I understand, the birth of anti-folk was a reaction to folk becoming mundane and traditionalist. I can kind of appreciate that, but I don’t think you can really understand it, unless you were making music in New York at the time that switch happened. I guess we’re inspired by the anti-folk movement, but I take it as far back as people like Jonathan Richman or Daniel Johnston. It was lo-fi music, basic songwriting really, and that’s what I empathise with.”
Interestingly, at one of their London gigs earlier this year, Noah And The Whale were supported by The Dodge Brothers, the skiffle group of which film critic Mark Kermode is a member.
“I love Mark Kermode, I think he’s brilliant,” Charlie enthuses. “We were doing the album launch at the Roundhouse, and I listen to Mark Kermode’s Podcast every week. I knew he was in this band, so I checked them out and liked them. Then they asked me who we wanted to play support, and I said The Dodge Brothers. They said yes, so that was pretty exciting.”
Noah And The Whale are managed by Chris Gentry, the former guitarist of short-lived Britpop group Menswear. I have to confess that, as an impressionable 13-year-old in the summer of 1995 (the peak of Britpop), I purchased a 7” vinyl copy of the Menswear single ‘Daydreamer’.
“He’ll be very excited to know that you’ve been talking about it,” Charlie laughs. “If he knew Menswear had come up in an interview, he’d be delighted. He’s fantastic, he’s a friend to everyone in the band. I know people whose managers don’t like being called after six or whatever, but he’s always around for us.”

Noah And The Whale's Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down is out now on Universal. They play Whelan’s, Dublin (October 28) and The Limelight, Belfast (29).