LIVING IN COLOUR
Now, if you really want misery, you should look further north to Scotland: Glasvegas, Arab Strap and the Twilight Sad are all experts when it comes to sozzled, sonic sadness. Frightened Rabbit have also made a reputation for making morose and melancholic music, but after a tumultuous few years the band have come back not only fighting – but smiling as well. ANDREW TRENDELL met lead singer Scott Hutchison to discuss sorrow, the sea and success…
Scott Hutchison, Frightened Rabbit, being interviewed by Andrew Trendell. Photo by Lucy Bridger
Life hasn’t been easy for Frightened Rabbit. Since starting out as an acoustic solo project with singer Scott Hutchison, he has gained 4 more members and gone from strength to strength – struggling with a criminal level of under-appreciation and emotional and physical exhaustion. However, the band’s latest album ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’ is a life embracing affirmation of survival. Drenched in a sense of sonic rapture, the album marks a liberating departure from their trademark gloom-ridden, noise-rock as heard on their brilliant early albums ‘Sing The Greys’ and ‘The Midnight Organ Fight.’ So what’s changed for the band?
“My life has just got much better,” admits singer Scott Hutchison with a gentle smile. “Things have become a lot more settled.”
Could it be said then that Hutchison’s new outlook is no better crystallized than on the wonderful ‘Not Miserable’ from the band’s latest album?
“That song is a response to the misery of the last album, but it’s sort of a joke as well because I think everyone expects me to be a bit melancholic – even in person as well.”
Scott Hutchison, Frightened Rabbit, being interviewed by Andrew Trendell. Photo by Lucy Bridger
Indeed, the Scott Hutchison I’m sat opposite in Sheffield is a charming, gently spoken cheerful gentleman – nothing like the manic, whiskey-fuelled miserabilist character that shouted poetic tales of sorrow on the band’s first two albums.
“People come up to me after shows and they’re surprised that I’m not some kind of dark shadow, hiding in the corner,” he jokes. “Not Miserable Now is just a rebuttal to anyone who assumes that my character exists only of darkness, heart ache and terrible pain. That’s only really about 5% of my character, and the rest is just the same as anyone else.”
The band’s previous album ‘The Midnight Organ Fright’ (a cynical metaphor for sex) was a record clearly fraught with heartache, as Scott wrestled with the demons that followed him after a messy break-up and the never-ending hangover of a gruelling tour. His sense of anxious anguish was almost tangible as he sang ‘Well, I am ill, but I’m not dead, and I don’t know which of those I prefer, because that limb which I have lost, well, it was the only thing holding me up.’ Scott recalls that he couldn’t help but let the trauma of his personal life spill over into his music.
“At the time I was genuinely feeling all of those things. When writing ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’ I was living between flats and just living wherever someone would let me,” recalls Scott, rubbing his eyes and temple. “I just didn’t know where I was going – I was a bit of a mess really, and I think that comes across on the record.”
Luckily, the album was as brilliant as it was dark, earning Frightened Rabbit critical acclaim, international success and a famous following that includes Deathcab For Cutie And Biffy Clyro – who both requested that the band join them on tour.
“I’ve become very fond of that record because it’s allowed me to have my own place in Edinburgh and life is a bit more settled. I got to write this record in a lovely place by the sea. I think my mental state there helped contribute to the positive aspects of this.”
Lead single from ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’ was the beautiful and euphoric ‘Swim Until You Can’t See Land’ – a real escapist anthem. Throughout the album runs the idea of isolation through clarity, something which Scott himself found very cathartic.
“A lot of the album is just about assessing my own mental state at the time. This time round we wrote a record that is more about trying to get back to your former self and figure out who you are. It’s hard to describe it without sounding like a spiritualist hippie or something, but everyone has to do it. The main themes are really about isolation and trying to figure out who you are.”
Frightened Rabbit @ Sheffield Leadmill by Lucy Bridger
Scott found solace in the remoteness of the Scottish Coast, and was able to turn his misery into beauty. Through the peace of being able to assess his mental state alone, Scott believes he was able to not only reverse his mental state, but write what critics are calling Frightened Rabbit’s most accomplished and complete album to date.
“I spent six weeks in a village by the sea on the east coast of Scotland and that geographical position of just being isolated and being on my own, helped my filter things through my mind a bit better. I was escaping. Initially I wasn’t even going out there to write, I was just going out there to get healthy again and clear my head but I found myself going into things that I wouldn’t have done if I was with other people in perhaps a more urban environment.”
Fans of their old sound should not despair however, as Frightened Rabbit have still maintained Smiths-esque juxtaposition between sinister lyrical ideas and soaring melodies, to create something truly special.
“The thing that interests me is the clash between our kind of refined and even pleasant musical backing to the lyrics which kind of offset it by bringing a darker lyrical edge. The balance between those two creates something slightly more interesting than just straight up indie rock music.”
Indeed, you’d expect Frightened Rabbit to produce anything but a straightforward record. Just like their old tourmates Biffy and Deathcab, Frightened Rabbit may have had to walk to long and treacherous road to the top, but it has instilled in them the honest and determined work ethic that comes with years of gradual evolution and dedicated touring.
“There is a mark you reach by say, album number three that suggests there is longevity and you can see into a much less shaky future. I think we’ve always been moving upwards and onwards but in a very slow way, which I think is the best way to do it. The past few years have seen us grow stronger and become better at dealing with certain things because we’ve had to deal with so many totally sh*te things as well. That kind of steady and gradual climb is one that suits us well.”
No longer singing the greys, Frightened Rabbit are truly living in colour.
By Andrew Trendell
Tags: frightened rabbit, interview, living in colour, scott hutchison, swim until you can't see land, winter of mixed drinks
