Brit-pop acquired fresh visibility at the dawn of the new millennium as Coldplay and Doves rose in prominence. The Music joined this wave of acts and seized the U.K. indie charts during summer 2002. Formed by childhood friends Stuart Coleman, Adam Nutter, Robert Harvey, and Phil Jordan, the group surfaced from the Leeds suburbs in 1999. Still teenagers, they rehearsed between classes and meals over the next two years. Early in 2001 Radio 1’s Steve Lamacq labeled them the “best unsigned band in Britain” after hearing the raw power of their demo “Take the Long Road and Walk It.” Fierce Panda Records acquired distribution rights and issued a limited pressing of 1,000 copies in May 2001. Hut Recordings prevailed in the ensuing bidding war and issued the debut EP You Might as Well Try to Fuck Me that same spring. Praise mounted when NME declared the Music “potentially the most important group since Oasis.” The People EP followed in spring 2002. While British coverage remained intense, Capitol Records signed the band in mid-2002 and issued the self-titled debut album Music in the United States during February 2003. The record had already appeared months earlier in the U.K., where it climbed to number four on the albums chart. The Music joined Coldplay for a two-month American tour and delivered their second album, Welcome to the North, in fall 2004. That release also performed strongly at home, yet the group stepped away from public view while frontman Robert Harvey addressed his alcohol addiction. Strength in Numbers, their third studio album, signaled their return in June 2008.
