Idlewild

The Scottish alt rock outfit Idlewild came together in Edinburgh toward the end of 1995, its original members being vocalist Roddy Woomble, guitarist Rod Jones, bassist Phil Scanlon, and drummer Colin Newton. Steady road work throughout the following twelve months led to the band’s first single, “Queen of the Troubled Teens,” issued in 1997 and quickly embraced by Radio 1’s Steve Lamacq. That broadcast attention drew the notice of Fierce Panda, whose London offices offered to put out the follow-up single “Chandelier,” the first Idlewild recording to feature replacement bassist Bob Fairfoull. Early 1998 brought the mini-album Captain, and the growing reputation of the group’s unruly concerts—once summed up by a U.K. magazine as “a flight of stairs falling down a flight of stairs”—secured a contract with Food Records, which released Hope Is Important at the end of October. Early 2001 saw the arrival of 100 Broken Windows, after which the band embarked on its first American tour that spring.

The Remote Part appeared the next year, propelled by the major European successes “American English” and “You Held the World in Your Arms,” which together made the record Idlewild’s biggest commercial achievement so far. Internal tensions nevertheless surfaced, and Fairfoull was dismissed following a September performance in Amsterdam. Guitar technician Alex Grant covered the remaining European dates until Gavin Fox and Allen Stewart joined full-time on bass and guitar early the next year, just ahead of the album’s American release in March.

Warnings/Promises surfaced in 2005, its songs drawn from an intensive four-month writing retreat in the Scottish Highlands. Fox departed the following spring; former Astrid bassist Gareth Russell took his place and appeared on the 2007 album Make Another World. Around the same time Woomble issued his solo debut My Secret Is My Silence, an acoustic set featuring guest vocals from Kate Rusby, and teamed with folk players Kris Drever and John McCusker for the 2008 collaborative effort Before the Ruin. In 2009 the band bypassed standard channels by offering its sixth album, Post Electric Blues, as a free download exclusively through fan sites, with a conventional release following in October. A three-year hiatus began in 2010, during which Jones pursued solo work and formed the side project the Birthday Suit while Woomble completed two additional solo records. The group reassembled on the Isle of Mull in 2013 to begin intermittent sessions for a seventh studio album, now featuring bassist Lucci Rossi in place of Russell. The resulting Everything Ever Written, produced by Jones and issued through PledgeMusic, reached stores in February 2015; its lead single “Collect Yourself” signaled a fresh direction marked by grungy textures and a clear funk influence. In 2019 Idlewild reunited with producer Dave Eringa—their collaborator on The Remote Part—for the eighth album Interview Music. Recorded in Scotland and Los Angeles and introduced by the single “Dream Variations,” the record presented a mature, stately brand of grown-up pop/rock accented by bluesy, faintly psychedelic touches.