Sons of Noel and Adrian is an experimental band based in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, England. They are known for their live performances with up to thirteen musicians on stage, all of whom play with many other bands. They are one of the founding groups of the

Willkommen Collective The Willkommen Collective is a Brighton-based community of musicians, promoters and artists. The collective includes the bands Sons of Noel and Adrian, The Leisure Society, Kristin McClement, The Climbers, The Miserable Rich, Shoreline and many ...

History

amaolpdx The band's debut self-titled album was released worldwide in April 2010 (distributed by Shellshock), coinciding with a seven date tour of Germany and ten date tour of the UK. It features the likes of

Nick Hemming Nicholas Hemming (born 7 April 1973) is an English musician and guitarist. He was formerly of the early 1990s indie band She Talks to Angels, is a key musician in the Willkommen Collective, and is currently the lead singer for The Leisure Soc ...

from

The Leisure Society The Leisure Society are an English rock band formed by Nick Hemming and Christian Hardy of Burton upon Trent. History Hemming was formerly of early 1990s indie band She Talks to Angels, which included actor Paddy Considine, and film director S ...

on banjo and mandolin, Mike Siddell from

Hope of the States Hope of the States were an English post rock-influenced indie band from Chichester. History The band formed in 2000, naming themselves after ''The Shame of the States'', Albert Deutsch's 1948 book on the state of mental healthcare in the Uni ...

and

Lightspeed Champion Devonté Hynes (born David Joseph Michael Hynes, 23 December 1985), also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and director based in New York City. From 2004 to 2006, Hynes was ...

on the violin and Will Calderbank from

The Miserable Rich The Miserable Rich are a string-led band, formed in 2007 and based in Brighton, England. The band has a chamber orchestra sound, created using cello and violin as the primary lead instruments, augmented by double bass, acoustic guitar and occasion ...

on the cello. Critics described the album as a more orchestral take on the American nu-folk movement, as "equal parts Shostakovich and Will Oldham". The lead single 'The Wreck is Not a Boat' received airplay on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music from

Rob Da Bank Robert John Gorham (born 24 June 1973 in Portsmouth, Hampshire), known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is an English DJ and co-founder of music festivals Bestival, originally on the Isle of Wight and now moved to Lulworth, Dorset and Camp Besti ...

Gideon Coe Gideon Jon Quantrill Coe (born 22 September 1967 in Canterbury, Kent) is a radio DJ, presenter, sportscaster, voiceover artist and journalist. Early career He began his broadcasting career in 1976 as a child presenter on the BBC One TV program ...

and more. The band then toured the UK twice with friends

Mumford & Sons Mumford & Sons is a British folk rock band formed in London in 2007. The band currently consists of Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums), Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass), and Ben Lovett (vocals, key ...

and gigged extensively, performing with the likes of

David Grubbs David Grubbs (born September 21, 1967) is an American composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He was a founding member of Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr del Sol. He has also played in Codeine, The Red Krayola, Bitch Magnet and The Wingdale ...

Peggy Sue "Peggy Sue" is a rock and roll song written by Jerry Allison and Norman Petty, and recorded and released as a single by Buddy Holly on September 20, 1957. The Crickets are not mentioned on label of the single (Coral 9-61885), but band members Jo ...

Red Sparowes Red Sparowes is an American, Los Angeles-based post-rock band, comprising current and former members of Isis, Marriages, The Nocturnes, Halifax Pier, Angel Hair and Pleasure Forever. Their sound is characteristic of soundscape-influenced exper ...

Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Latv ...

David Thomas Broughton David Thomas Broughton (, born 20 March 1981) is an English folk/avant-garde singer and guitarist. Born in Otley, West Yorkshire, he creates the sound of a large ensemble by sampling himself singing, playing acoustic guitar, and making an asso ...

and

Alessi's Ark Alessi's Ark is the musical project of Alessi Laurent-Marke (born 30 June 1990), an English singer-songwriter. Career Named after the Italian design company, Alessi Laurent-Marke grew up in Hammersmith, London where her father, Alan Marke, is ...

. In 2009 the band played several high-profile London shows: the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

with

Laura Marling Laura Beatrice Marling (born 1 February 1990) is a British folk singer-songwriter. She won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2011 Brit Awards and was nominated for the same award at the 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 Brit A ...

, the

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

with

Jaga Jazzist Jaga Jazzist (also known as Jaga) is a Norwegian experimental jazz band, that rose to prominence when the BBC named their second album, ''A Livingroom Hush'' (Smalltown Supersound/Ninja Tune), the best jazz album of 2002. (in Norwegian) Biograph ...

and

Efterklang Efterklang () is a Danish indie rock group from Copenhagen, formed in December 2000. The band has recorded five studio albums and are currently signed to the 4AD label, as well as their own record label Rumraket. In 2012, they released their f ...

with the

Britten Sinfonia Britten Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra ensemble based in Cambridge, UK. It was created in 1992, following an initiative from Eastern Arts and a number of key figures including Nicholas Cleobury, who recognised the need for an orchestra in the ...

, the Union Chapel with

and

The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue situated at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhouse, ...

, performing a live score for

Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...

's '' La Coquille et le clergyman''.

Marcus Mumford Marcus Oliver Johnstone Mumford (born 31 January 1987) is a British singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer of the band folk band Mumford & Sons. He also plays a number of instruments with the group ...

joined the band on stage for their performance of "Indigo", playing drums and singing. This performance can be seen on the live bonus DVD with the special edition of

's second album,

I Speak Because I Can ''I Speak Because I Can'' is the second studio album by British singer-songwriter Laura Marling, released on 22 March 2010. Produced by Ethan Johns, the album deals with "responsibility, particularly the responsibility of womanhood." The album w ...

. The band went on to release the Rivers EP as a 7" on OIB Records and play many festivals including End of the Road Festival,

The Big Chill Big Chill can refer to: *The Big Chill (music festival), an annual music and comedy festival held in England * ''The Big Chill'' (film), a 1983 American film directed by Lawrence Kasdan *The Big Chill at the Big House, a 2010 U.S. college ice hock ...

and

Green Man The Green Man is a legendary being primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth that occurs every spring. The Green Man is most commonly depicted in a sculpture, or other representation of a face which is ...

. In April 2011 the band completed a twelve date tour of Europe and announced via Facebook that they had completed recording their second album, titled Knots. In March 2012, Broken Sound and Willkommen Records confirmed the album's title and announced a release date of 21 May 2012 supported by a short UK tour. The band members are noted for being extremely collaborative. As well as almost every member of the band having a solo project, and all of them collaborating with other musicians from within the

, in 2011 two members performed some shows with

Damo Suzuki , better known as Damo Suzuki (ダモ鈴木), is a Japanese musician who has been living in Germany since the early 1970s and is best known as the former lead singer of the krautrock group Can. Biography As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 196 ...

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

band

Can Can may refer to: Containers * Aluminum can * Drink can * Oil can * Steel and tin cans * Trash can * Petrol can * Metal can (disambiguation) Music * Can (band), West Germany, 1968 ** ''Can'' (album), 1979 * Can (South Korean band) Other * C ...

and two performed as the horn section for

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadians, Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Cannin ...

's tour of the UK. In 2012 four members of the band performed as part of

's band on the Pyramid stage at

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and featured on her album Live at York Minster. Their second album,

Knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

, was released in 2012. Critics noted a marked departure from the debut, exploring and combining a wider array of genres, especially the "influence of Chicago's avant-garde rock and jazz scene and guitarists such as former

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-man

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in particular". The band's third album, ''Turquoise Purple Pink'', was released on 25 November 2016. The album marked another change in style - after hearing the new material at Green Man Festival, Kathryn Bromwich of ''

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'' wrote, "In the front: two girls doing

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-like ethereal vocals and faultlessly choreographed dance moves, occasionally breaking off for a drum or clarinet solo. In the back: the band (three on guitar and bass, two drummers) blast out funky basslines, building crescendo and noise levels that would make My Bloody Valentine proud."

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described the new material as "a defiantly electric brand of muscular jazz-rock that recalls the acceptable face of early seventies prog;

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, later

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and the 'Rock In Opposition' movement, somewhere between

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and

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Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

premiered the track, "I Love You So Much I Want To Stab You In The Eye", on his

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show on 31 October 2016. The band did a five date tour of Germany then went on Tom Robinson's show to perform a four track live session on Saturday 4 March 2017.

Stuart Maconie Stuart Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark ...

replayed one of the live tracks on his Freak Zone show on Sunday 9 April 2017.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Sons of Noel and Adrian'' (2008) *''

'' (2012) *'' Turquoise Purple Pink'' (2016)

Other releases

*''The Wreck Is Not A Boat'' (2009) – EP *''Rivers'' (2010) – 7" *''Your Tunnel That Connects My Arm to a God-Fearing Woman Who Lives in the Dark'' (2012) – compilation of rarities

References

External links

Sons of Noel and Adrian's official websiteSons of Noel and Adrian at Facebook
{{Authority control English folk musical groups Musical groups from Brighton and Hove