Childhood

Formed in 2010 by guitarist-vocalist Ben Romans-Hopcraft and guitarist Leo Dobsen during their university years in Nottingham, the London-based indie rock quartet Childhood quickly recruited fellow students Daniel Salamons on bass and Chris O'Driscoll on drums to round out the initial roster. Their initial recordings evoked the Stone Roses and Primal Scream alongside numerous shoegaze acts, placing them in the same orbit as contemporaries such as Savages and touring partners Palma Violets. Early acclaim from UK journalists centered on a trio of tracks—the debut single “Blue Velvet,” its B-side “Bond Girls,” and the streamed cut “Haltija.” After the follow-up single “Solemn Skies” appeared, Jonny Williams took over drums from O’Driscoll, and the group landed on both the BBC’s and the Guardian’s “bands to watch in 2014” lists. “Falls Away” preceded the mid-2014 arrival of their debut album Lacuna, helmed by producer Dan Carey. Following promotional tours, the band traveled to Atlanta to work with Ben H. Allen III, whose résumé includes Cee Lo Green and Animal Collective. By this point the lineup had shifted to Romans-Hopcraft, Dobsen, Williams, bassist Thomas Tomaski, and keyboardist Max Fantin; Romans-Hopcraft had also joined Insecure Men, the project fronted by Fat White Family’s Saul Adamczewski that counted Sean Lennon among its contributors. The second album, Universal High, surfaced in 2017 on Marathon Records and traded the earlier shoegaze textures for classic psychedelic pop and, most prominently, ’70s soul.