Black to the Future

UK electro kingpins Groove Armada returned earlier this year with Black Light, which, as the title indicates, is a darker affair than we have hitherto come to expect from the duo. They talk about working with Will Young and Bryan Ferry and reflect on the short history of their Lovebox festival in Ireland.

“We’d been on a major label for ten years, and in that scenario you do come under a certain kind of commercial pressure sometimes,” says Groove Armada’s Tom Findlay. “ This is the first time we’ve been on an independent since our first album, so in a way we’ve gone to some different places musically. Things have been going on in our lives, and we’ve made a perhaps more reflective record than we have in the past.”
There's a notable array of guest vocalists on the album, including iconic Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry and Pop Idol star Will Young.
“Once we got a whiff that Bryan Ferry might be interested, it was kind of a no-brainer for us to ask him,” explains Tom. “He’s been a bit of a hero to us, and there’s actually a bit of a Roxy Music feel to certain parts of this album. There’s also a woman called Jess Larrabee who sings on the record. We came across her on the internet, and we’ve actually never even met her, but she does vocals on three tracks. SaintSaviour sings on it too – she’s now the front woman of the band and she’s performing with us at the live shows.
“Will Young closes the album with a track called ‘History’. Mani’s done some writing with him over the years; they’ve kind of become mates and had a few nights out in Ibiza and stuff like that.”
I didn’t actually know Mani had been writing with Will Young.
“No, not Mani – Andy from our band!” Tom corrects me. “I’d imagine Mani probably hasn’t. That would be quite a good combination – to go from Groove Armada to the Stone Roses!”
In addition to producing Groove Armada records, in recent years Tom and musical partner Andy Cato have also been active in putting together the annual Lovebox festival, which even made it to Dublin on a couple of occasions. The aforementioned Mr. Ferry will be in action at this year’s event in his capacity as singer with Roxy Music.
“Given the influence they’ve had on us, it’s nice that that relationship has kind of come full circle,” reflects Tom. “We had a go at doing Lovebox in Ireland, and it didn’t really work out for us. I think what we learned from that is that you’re better of focusing on your own back yard – get that right and then go further afield. We want to be the best festival in London, and then we’ll take on the world next. It’s gone from two to three days this year, and we’ve got a great line-up, with Dizzee Rascal, Roxy Music, Mark Ronson, Grace Jones and Hot Chip as headliners.”
Groove Armada are shortly to head off to the US on a short tour. How does their sound go over Stateside?
“Well, Black Light has been received better there than the last couple of albums,” responds Tom. “So we’re going to go out there and give it a go. We’re doing dates in San Francisco, Brooklyn and Los Angeles – the coasts, really. The tour ends up at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, which is the big dance event in March. It’s interesting, this album has generated interest in some places we’ve never really made an impact before, like the US, France and Germany. I think our slightly darker, more emo side has won us some new fans!”