Elbow

Top Hits Song Highlights Intro

Formed in Manchester, U.K., in the late 1990s, this five-piece rock outfit hit big with their debut album, ASLEEP AT THE BACK. Combining socially relevant lyrics concerning the contemporary British experience with complex, passionate music, they drew comparisons with both classic rock acts of previous decades--including Pink Floyd and Talk Talk--and more contemporary bands like Radiohead, while pursuing a more mainstream path than experimentally inclined millennial bands like Sigur Ros and Godspeed You Black Emperor. Emporere consist of band members Guy Garvey, Mark Potter, Craig Potter, Richard Jupp and pete Turner.

Elbow were named Best British Band at the 2009 BRITS , picked up a South Bank Show award and were also heralded for their ‘Outstanding Contribution to British Music’ at the 2009 NME Awards. For a band whose cabinet previously contained a solitary ‘Best Live Band’ award from Time Out it was a remarkable change of gear.
Elbow had always been respected for their music. The only band in NME history to have four consecutive 9/10 album reviews, they had already been described as ‘national treasures’ by The Guardian whilst the likes of John Cale (who included ‘Switching Off’ in his Desert Island Discs) and Michael Stipe had declared themselves fans.

Having narrowly lost out to PJ Harvey in their first Mercury nomination in 2001 for debut ‘Asleep In The Back’ and alongside a BRIT nomination for ‘Best New British Band’ on the same album, ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ in many ways saw the band come full circle but with one crucial difference; this time the perpetual nearlymen were the winners.
Plans for the follow up to ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ had long been in the works. Whilst touring and promoting ‘Seldom’ the band began demoing the songs that would become ‘build a rocket boys!’ They even had a mini studio built at every venue to ensure ideas were recorded and not forgotten. Following a break through September and October 2009, Elbow reconvened in traditional style on the Isle Of Mull to begin sifting through these recordings.