I had listened to the album all week to try and get to know it and before the interview played it in the heart of London.
In the rush of Tottenham Court Road.
The album suddenly took on a different energy, amidst the speed and colour of life there.
It made sense because the songs were conceived from a life in the City and so drew life from it.
Johnny Borrell also listened to the album on the tube train and thought it was one of the best things he had heard.
"After the first song "Leave Me Alone" you hear there's a tube train coming and the reason for that is
I was listening to the monitor mixes on the tube and as the train came in it screeched at exactly the same
key as the organ so I just had to put it on."
As always, I am interested in peoples' record collections and what influences them.
Whats the last album you bought and what are you listening to at the moment kind of thing
but it seems Razorlight are'nt particularly moved by todays chart offerings and seem to draw mainly
on a rich vein of yesterdays masters.
"There's not a lot that I really like, currently especially." Says Johnny, "The last thing I bought was probably the Kinks collection".
"I always listen to the Animals, religiously. I try and listen to Leadbelly Midnight Special with the Gold Gate Quartet, everyday".

I wondered about the sudden appearance of Razorlight on the music scene.
From virtually unknowns to almost overnight, being on the cover of NME and receiving immense praise for their debut.
As often the media craves new heroes and blows new discoveries up to such an extent to capture "the moment" that it may, just may, spoil the true musical path a band needs to take and may leave a vacuum for the second album. Is it better to nurture a musical career path and is the here today gone tomorrow attitude of todays disposable society a worry?

"I've been writing songs for ten years....so I don't feel it's been that quick. From forming the band, everything went very, very swimmingly almost as if it was a joke. Everything happened how it should have happened."
As to the media machine,
"All it does is set you up with a platform to do something better."
"I'll put on a Louis Armstrong record or Little Richard or Lou Reed and you try and live your music up to that."
They certainly "don't think the hype's been any more than for some other bands" and write with their
standards set on great songs, not on what some journalist might say.

They formed when Bjorn answered an ad in a music paper.
Johnny knew he was right for the job because of the way he wrote the ad.
"It was a very good advert" claims Johnny, "because I was advertising for a lead guitarist and I said "No pentatonics".
So I thought there's not many people who will answer that."
Being from different backgrounds and countries meant "we could vibe off each other, there's no cliches."
Each knew that the other would see something in a different way.

The album has an undertone about it. A hard, maybe dark feeling lurking below the surface.
There are two references to suicide and the vocal on "To the Sea" is close to rage.
"Pretty much they're all direct conversations to somebody".
"The best thing I read about "To The Sea" was someone saying
"I've got no idea what he's going on about but fucking hell he sounds like he means it."
That's one song I didn't want to be literal about, I wanted the poetry to be in the mystery and the mystery to be in the poetry.
I was wilfully ambiguous about it.
You get to a point where there's no difference between highs and lows, they're just things, just pieces of inspiration."

Razorlight are a focused band. The common love of music is prevalent.
There is plenty more music inside them and it can't seem to get out quick enough.
Though there is the wisdom here to craft the songs and let them lead themselves to become what they are.
Never enough time to write songs?
"There are twenty four hours in a day" says Johnny, "And sleep is overrated."