Lost & Found is an ongoing series in which we take a nostalgic dive into Brighton’s musical history to dig some up old favourites and maybe discover a few lost gems from back in the day.
Electrelane
c. 1998-2007
Electrelane were a serious band, serious in their intent to redraw the post-punk identikit. For nearly ten years they defied expectations by making music that didn’t look back. Sure krautrock, the Velvets, Sonic Youth and the art school danced around their soundtrack but the band always made the right calls – their intuition was their genius. Let’s ditch songs, do an instrumental debut LP with barking dogs and arguments for vocals. Let’s use an a cappella choir from Chicago, sing in French and cut up lyrics from Nietzsche for the tunes on our follow up ‘The Power Out’. Let’s work with Steve Albini and take control. Let’s record our third album as one long piece and stretch it out just like we do it live. Crucially it was at those Electrelane gigs that their wonky application made perfect sense, a band that could lock in while trusting in each other and in the direction the music took them. By 2007 they unsurprisingly needed a break and opted for an ‘indefinite hiatus’.
Where are they now?
Verity Susman, Emma Gaze, Ros Murray and Mia Clarke reconnected and hosted a live Q&A on the band’s Facebook page in April. New recordings are possible, which would be their second rejuvenation after a burst of festival gigs in 2011.
Best songs: ‘Gone Under Sea’ / ‘Bells’ / ‘To The East’