British indie rock crew Arthur Beatrice have just unveiled their highly anticipated second album Keeping The Peace. In a contemporary pop climate of excess at all costs, the bane were conscious in creating an album that feels simultaneously grand, yet still intimate; grandiose yet hushed.
Co-produced with Matt Wiggins, and recorded at London’s iconic Church and Pool studios, Keeping The Peace is a stunning effort for the quiet overachievers. This sophomore effort is not only a treat for old fans but an ideal introduction to the band for new fans alike.
To celebrate the release of the record, the band have kindly penned a track by track run down which you can check out below. Give the record a listen and if you like what you’re hearing be sure to visit the band’s Facebook page for more info. Keeping The Peace is out now via Open Assembly Recordings/ Caroline Australia.
Real Life
‘Real Life was something of a breakthrough moment for us when writing this record. We were keen to up the energy on this album and we feel like we did so with this track. It felt like the right way to start the album, as it comes in fairly strong and uptempo throughout.
Lyrically, it explores the idea of parenthood and what that means for our generation, and the moment when you finally realise the true sacrifices your parents made in order to have you.
Healing
If I remember rightly this track was written before our debut album Working Out was released. All of our tracks go through a lot of different stages before we get to the finished track, but this one is perhaps the most different from the original demo.
The first demo had a drum machine behind it and sounded a little like early Justin Timberlake, but the final arrangement and collaboration with the London Contemporary Orchestra is something we are massively proud of. We never really imagined that the orchestral arrangements would add so much until we had them in the room.
Who Returned
This was the first track we released from Keeping The Peace and we feel like it sounds very different from anything we have released before. We were keen for the album to be very varied and this track pushes a little more in an electronic direction than others on the record.
Whilst we were working out what we wanted to do with the new record we worked with a few dance producers, namely Floating Points and New Jackson, and I think seeing the way they worked and their style of production definitely had an influence on this track.
All I Ask
We have always been interested in big choral sounds and harmonies and we saw this track as a good chance to push that and see where we could take it. We were lucky enough to work with the CK Gospel Choir on this track and it was an amazing experience for all of us to be able to have them on our record.
The input of Nick Etwell on horn really lifts the final chorus as well and ‘Lakes’ ‘All I Ask in a different direction to many of the other tracks on the record. We were keen for it to have quite a sparse, gospel feeling, and hopefully that comes across.
I Left You
I Left You was written during a few weeks we spent making demo’s at Orlando’s mum’s house before we went into the studio. It’s one of our favourites lyrically and musically and the first ideas for it came about when we all momentarily swapped instruments after we hit a bit of a wall!
It was one of the few tracks where Elliot’s beat was the inspiration for the chords and melodies. Usually we will have an idea of the chord structure and the melody before we think about the arrangement and production, but sometimes changing up the way you work can make a big difference and keeps you on your toes which is important.
Since We Were Kids
This track is about the blind ambition you have as a child and facing up to the reality that not everything works out the way you expect it to as you grow up.
We all have quite different tastes in music but I feel like this track is an example of all our differing tastes coming together to make something that none of us expected. We are all interested in making classic sounding pop songs but with unique and different sounding production and we like to think this song achieves that!
Every Cell
The ending to ‘Every Cell’ was something we debated long and hard, and it was re-worked multiple times. We always felt that the ending could be a pivotal moment on the record and we were keen to get it right, but it felt like there were a few different ways to do it.
What we ended up with is one of the standout moments on the LP for us and the song in general was definitely always a marker for how we wanted the album to sound. The collaboration with the CK Gospel Choir and the horn section make this track one of our favourites to play live!
Worry
Recording Worry was one of my personal highlights as the track hinged on getting the Orchestral arrangements right. We arranged the string parts with Hugh Brunt who is the Principle Conductor of the London Contemporary Orchestra and having his expertise really made a difference.
The string players recorded all their parts in a few hours, never having seen the parts before or heard the tracks. it was a fairly overwhelming day for us, recording a 16 piece Orchestra in the Church studios (a converted church!) in North London. The Talent of these musicians is on another level and working with them really brought the album to life. We have also been lucky enough to play a few live shows with the soloists and we hope to do a few more in the future.
I Don’t Get That Chill
I would say this track sounds the most like it’s original demo. In fact, from its conception it’s barely changed at all, apart for the fact that Orlando sung on the original so we changed the key to suit Ella’s voice.
We have never really used much classical guitar in our music so it was exciting to get a chance with this one. This track was one of the first times with this new record that we really felt the lyrics perfectly matched the mood of the music and the production around it.
Brother
Making Brother was the most fun we have all had Together in the studio. It was the last day of a week of recording in the Church with Matt Wiggins (co-producer) and it was recorded in a way that we have never really tried before.
We had a few ideas for the melody and lyrics but nothing was really set in stone. We ran through it live for a few hours and it came together quite naturally, I think we’d definitely want to experiment with writing like that again in the future. Working with Matt also had a massive impact on how the album sounds.
It’s quite hard to find a producer that everyone respects and can work with and we definitely found one in Matt. We always put quite a lot of pressure on ourselves when recording and writing and having Matt around to help us with decisions and add his skills as a producer was invaluable.
