Times Out

Websites like Spotify might make it easier to download individual tracks, but the Feeder singer reckons there’s always a place for a full collection of songs.

“I am very old school and I’m still flying the flag for albums,” he says.

“I love the journey albums take you on from start to finish, and with a lot of great records, when you listen to them all the way through you know there’s some thought that’s gone into the sequencing and I still love all of that.

“I know some people don’t care about a full album anymore and just use shuffle, but I do, and I think some of our fans do, too. There’s kids getting into it as well – they’re getting into vinyl, and that’s great to see.”

Grant’s defence of full length records arrives as the Welsh rockers prepare to unleash their latest effort, All Bright Electric, which is due out on October 7. It’s the ninth effort for a band known as Britrock survivors, who’ve weathered tragic events like the death of drummer Jon Lee and kept going.

However four years have passed since Grant and comrade Taka Hirose released Generation Freakshow.

After that effort the band decided they wanted a break to focus on other things, although four years was longer than they had planned. The time away saw Grant release a solo album, which featured a more reflective side to his writing.

“I was touching on stuff that I thought was too mellow or too personal for Feeder,” says the singer, one of the chattiest men in rock.

“Doing the solo thing has given me a bit more belief and confidence into doing something different with Feeder as well, and I’ve tried to bring some of the things, like writing acoustically and singing differently, into this record, and I think it works really well.

“It’s nice to still keep the band’s identity, but also make something a little different to what’s gone before. Some of the guitars touch upon the really loud early Feeder stuff, but it’s a different record to that. While it’s still rock it’s more soulful.”

Already the band’s hard-hitting singles Universe of Life and Eskimo have provided evidence that Grant’s not ready for a pipe and slippers just yet. While he talks about bringing a touch of soul into the record, he also went old school with some of his other influences, right back to rock powerhouses like Black Sabbath.

“I’ve been going back to the albums that influenced me as a kid,” explains Grant.

“I’ve been listening to a lot of Black Sabbath, because Tony Iommi really inspired me when I was about 10, and I was trying to copy all those riffs. Bill Ward’s name came up quite a bit when we were doing the record because we wanted that feel for the drums in particular and we’ve got a track called Geezer on the album - it’s not actually about Geezer Butler, but it’s got a Sabbath feel to it.”

Grant is bright and optimistic, but he admits that once a record is complete he can start second guessing everything.

“I do go to a pretty dark place after a record is finished,” he admits.

“My wife says I’m an absolute nightmare when it’s done because I start over analysing everything, but I’m coming through that now, and feeling good about the record. I don’t always do that with an album, but with this one it’s very close to how I was hoping it would come out, and that’s an achievement in itself.”

Feeder will bring some of those new tracks to the O2 ABC tomorrow night, along with past hits like Buck Rogers, Seven Days In The Sun and Just The Way I’m Feeling. They’ve also got a different sort of gig on the horizon, as they’ll play the rugby league Grand Final at Old Trafford in October.

For Grant, it’s all about getting the music out there.

“I just want our music to be heard, however we do it, and that’s the main positive of something like this.

“There’s some big bands that have to do things now they wouldn’t have considered even five years ago now, that’s the way of the world now. There’s not even many music programmes on TV anymore, so it’s a different world these days and if opportunities come up then you have to take them.”

Feeder, O2 ABC, tomorrow, £22.50, 7pm