 Every once in a while a band emerges fully formed, that fulfils a dream no-one even realised they had. A band who are spookily, synchronically of the moment, but who also transcend it, slightly glazed eyes already on where they're going next. A band who simply strap on, plug in and give out but manage to do so with an uncanny pop universalism. A band whose musical Esperanto is, in this case, comprised of equal parts American, English and Swedish - a transatlantic/North Sea meeting of angular, electric wire guitars here, a voice as English as cricket there. A band whose tunes make grown men go weak at the knees, and yes, whose looks make young girls' knees tremble too. That band, right now, is Razorlight.
And it's all happened very, very fast. Formed in the Summer of 2002 by Londoner Johnny Borrell and Swedish ex-pat' Björn Ågren, rehearsals produced immediate sparks, and with the addition of drummer Christian Smith-Pancorvo and Ågren's old pal Carl Dalemo on bass, their first recordings were made by their manager on a video camera. This proved enough to pique label interest sufficiently to front some cash, so by October Razorlight were recording their demos at Hackney's Toerag Studios, hot on the heels of the White Stripes. As fans started to devote head and web space to "Dreams of Razorlight", and trading bootleg versions of the Xfm sessions, Razorlight were recording a new batch of demos at Westside studios during the summer of 2003, sufficient to start a serious bidding war. Mercury Records won and Razorlight was invited to Japan's Summer Sonic festival in August 2003.
Razorlight continued to shine when, as a gesture of supreme confidence in his new charges, Mercury UK's Managing Director, famed producer Steve Lillywhite took a month off to concentrate on producing their debut abum. The first fruit, a fierce version of 'Rip It Up' was chosen as the next single. An intense tour schedule combined with holing themselves away in RAK studios finessing their first album, with basic tracks cut live in the studio to preserve their onstage dynamic. As yet unnamed, the album is set for release on 21st June 2004 and will include live favourites like the in-your-face 'Leave Me Alone' and 'Bright Lights', the more introspective pop rush of 'Stumble And Fall', which went top 20 on release late January. 'Up All Night', will also feature and the intricate 'To The Sea'. Future single the warm'n'bouncy 'Golden Touch' and the the epic, melancholic 'Which Way Is Out', spanning a range of styles most of their contemporaries can only dream about, while remaining uniquely and resolutely Razorlight.
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