About Group

Formed by This Heat drummer Charles Hayward, About Group emerged as a meeting point between avant-garde experimentation and indie sensibilities. Hayward brought together Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, Spring Heel Jack’s John Coxon, and Derek Bailey collaborator Pat Thomas in 2009 to create an album rooted in improvisatory music. Released that same year on the Treader label, the recording appeared under the collective credit Hayward/Coxon/Thomas/Taylor. Several live performances followed, among them sets at Glastonbury and Ornette Coleman’s Meltdown Festival. The four musicians reconvened in 2010 under the name About Group to record Start & Complete, an album built around more conventional song structures. Domino issued this sophomore release in early 2011. Improvisations drawn from those sessions surfaced as part of the deluxe edition of the group’s third album, Between the Walls, which extended the structured approach established on the previous record. Hayward’s involvement with the project concluded with this release.