INTERVIEW: It’s time to dream (on toast) with The Darkness
Photo: The Darkness’ new album is called Dreams on Toast. Photo courtesy of Simon Emmett / Provided by Publicity Please with permission.
The Darkness, the successful rock ‘n’ roll band from the United Kingdom, has built a career that spans several studio albums and more than a handful of hit songs, including “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” Now the quartet is back with a new recording called Dreams on Toast, which was released today, March 28, by Cooking Vinyl. The album features singer/guitarist Justin Hawkins, guitarist Dan Hawkins, bassist Frankie Poullain and drummer Rufus Taylor changing their sound a bit, leaning into different genres, including country and classical orchestra music.
Poullain said the guys have been working on the recording for approximately one year. Their previous recording effort was produced during the COVID-19 lockdown, so they were separated from one another, which was not an ideal setting for making music.
“We were definitely excited to dig real deep,” Poullain said in a recent Zoom interview. “This time we spent a lot of time with each other up in the Highlands of Scotland. We really decided to broaden the palette, so to speak, when it comes to textures, colors. We wanted it to be more lavish. We saw country songs, but with lavish arrangements, almost cinematic, so there’s a lot of that stuff. … About half the album is lavishly rich ballads or country songs, which we’ve never really done before. The album closes with a 24-piece orchestra over an acoustic song [called ‘Weekend in Rome’]. … It’s very romantic, the most romantic thing we’ve ever done.”
Toward the end of the recording process, the band members realized they had enough money to spring for an orchestra, but in the United Kingdom, the available musicians were too expansive. So, The Darkness headed to Bulgaria to record that final song in Eastern Europe.
“We managed to do that for not a huge amount of money, but it was still quite a lot for us,” he said. “Stephen Dorff, the actor, he does a voiceover on the track, and it makes it sound very cinematic, you know, almost like in those old Woody Allen films like Vicky Cristina Barcelona where you’ve got that kind of voiceover describing something in a kind of slightly ironic kind of way.”
The Darkness, according to Poullain, will always record studio albums, even though some bands have decided to exclusively focus on touring and releasing singles. This rock ‘n’ roll band feels its artistic expression is best done through LPs.
“You realize as you get older it’s not about thinking; it’s about feeling,” the bass player said. “You don’t want to plan too much. Too much of the grey matter can kill an album because people are smarter than you think, but at the same time, their hearts are open. People want their open hearts to have feelings injected into them. … How could you live with yourself if you’re not doing that, if you’re just playing live and doing the same songs again and again. You have to add to the catalog … lay down the gauntlet, make it hard for yourself. You need challenges, struggle. Beauty and all the beautiful art comes from struggle.”
Poullain said he is quite happy to be on a small label for this release. The band members have the chance to make creative decisions, including what singles to release, and they are not butting heads with studio executives. The decision-making rests with the group, and Poullain believes that’s a recipe for success.
Now, after releasing these songs, The Darkness will head out on a worldwide tour. European dates have already been announced, and North America news should be coming soon.
“We’re going to be announcing American dates quite soon,” Poullain said. “There will be one or possibly two American tours. We’re going to be announcing that soon. I’m excited. I love it. For me, it’s almost the most exciting thing. The most rock ‘n’ roll thing is touring the States with the history and the variety of places that you come into. Some of the venues, these old theaters in the States, are so romantic.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Darkness’ new album is called Dreams on Toast, which is now available from Cooking Vinyl. Click here for more information.
