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Razorlight biography
RAZORLIGHT BIOGRAPHY
Razorlight
Johnny Borrell (Vox, Guitar)
Björn Ågren (Guitar)
Carl Dalemo (Bass)
Andy Burrows (Drums)
Emerging from the same Dalston music scene that spawned the Libertines, Razorlight have (to some extent) lived up to the hype of their early career with two very successful albums and a string of hit singles and memorable live performances, culminating in their Live 8 appearance in July 2005. And in the shape of Johnny Borrell, the charismatic, strutting, preening, opinionated and undoubtedly talented singer, they have the unique-selling-point-frontman, and fount of all notoriety, to ensure that they will seldom be out of the pop gossip columns or the charts.
To back up all the hype and bluster, however, there is a pretty useful four-piece band at work, two Swedes and two Englishmen making extremely accomplished music. Having in 2006 managed to achieve that rare feat, a second album ('Razorlight') which outsells its predecessor ('Up All Night, 2004'), and even better than that having scored their first UK number one with the single 'America', the profile of Razorlight could be said to be in rude health - with the emphasis on the rude.
Their debut album 'Up All Night' enjoyed huge sales upon its release in the summer of 2004, and for many the edgy, energetic single 'Golden Touch' was the song of that summer. A memorable acoustic performance of the song backstage at Glastonbury for the Jo Whiley show, complete with a gospel backing choir, further demonstrated Borrell's ability to do it live as well as in studio - and according to the band's website, it was this performance that caught the attention of Michael Parkinson, known for his ability to bring acts firmly into the mainstream (and Radio 2 playlist) - the inevitable live performance on his TV chat show ensued.
And in stark contrast to this stands the cooler-than-Siberia aspect of the band's image - on the one hand appearing on Parkinson, arguably the closest to the middle of the road it is possible to be in UK music terms, and on the other popping up in an episode of the second series of the surreal BBC comedy 'The Mighty Boosh' - the band are friends with the Boosh boys Julian Barrett and Noel Fielding. Here, in essence, is a band that can achieve that rare feat of pleasing the cool kids at NME (topping the NME chart, in fact, with their December '06 single 'Before I Fall to Pieces') and the grown ups at the Daily Telegraph in equal measure.
2005 was to be something of an annus mirabilis for the band - 'Up All Night' was re-issued in April, and then came Live 8 in July - but even this did not pass without controversy. Pleading their 'fledgling status', the band opted not to donate their extra revenue to charity, giving the press yet more ammunition to Borrell-bash. However, high profile support slots for Queen featuring Paul Rodgers (July '05) and for Oasis in Cardiff (December '05) still followed.
Despite having made public pronouncements recently that he intends to tone down the bold sweeping statements, Johnny Borrell is seldom out of the music press, be it for declaring to that he was as talented as Bob Dylan, or modestly having nothing to declare but his own genius. Being the son of a journalist, it simply could be that Borrell knows all too well that there's no such thing as bad publicity, and if he suspects his music is anywhere near as good as he says it is, the free publicity from the odd big-headed statement, or a public spat with rival band, will only improve on the record sales. And for all his protests that his quotes were taken out of context, he comes across as far too canny not to have foreseen this. Whatever his motivation, though, the thing is, the band do have some undeniably catchy songs that are going to sell, however much you really want to dislike their singer.
And dislike seems to be something that follows Borrell around. This man is so cool he managed to get headbutted by Pete Doherty backstage at Reading in 2005. And when he's not publicly declaring the music of the Kooks to be 'shit' and saying, 'It sounds like the band are literally rolling over, sticking their arse in the air and begging Radio 1 to fuck them' (hard to see how that one could have been taken out of context), Borrell also manages to raise the ire of his own bandmates. He and Andy Burrows, the drummer, had a public pub-brawl in October '06, prompting the latter to make threats of quitting (later withdrawn).
But an uneasy peace exists between Borrell and all his bandmates, who reportedly make every effort when on the road to travel on the tour bus on which he isn't sitting - surely a bad sign? Of course, this isn't the first band, and surely won't be the last, in which the quality of the music is in direct proportion to the tensions that exist between the cocky front-man and his bandmates. However, fans and followers of the group will surely hope that they'll knock together a good few more records before the whole thing implodes.
