Maybeshewill

Maybeshewill took shape as a quintet from Leicester, England, crafting instrumental post-rock that incorporated electro textures and a cinematic sensibility in the manner of Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and M83. Guitarists Robin Southby and John Helps first crossed paths in 2005 while attending university, and they soon recruited bassist Tanya Byrne and drummer Lawrie Malen to complete an initial quartet. That lineup self-released the four-track EP Japanese Spy Transcript in 2006, prompting Nottingham’s Field Records to take notice. A brief stretch of personnel shifts followed, during which Byrne and Malen departed and drummer James Collins together with bassist Andrew Jackson came aboard, after which the band turned its attention to a debut album. Not for Want of Trying appeared to favorable response in 2008 and was succeeded the following year by Sing the Word Hope in Four-Part Harmony. Collins, Helps, Southby, Jamie Ward, and Matthew Daly—who had both joined more recently—performed on the third album, Was Here for a Moment, Then I Was Gone. The same five musicians remained intact for the Superball Music release Fair Youth.