The Lathums are an English
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band from
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
.
They are formed of singer/songwriter and guitarist Alex Moore, lead guitarist Scott Concepcion, bassist Matty Murphy and drummer Ryan Durrans, and are managed by Alfie Skelly. They were put together by 'The Music Project', a stage school specialising in music, art, games and media, in the local district of
Pemberton in April 2018, after their tutor placed them in the same project group, and within a year they signed with
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
. They released their debut album, ''
How Beautiful Life Can Be
''How Beautiful Life Can Be'' is the debut studio album by the English indie rock band The Lathums, released in September 2021 by record label Island Records. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart on 1 October 2021.
Background
A ...
'', on 24 September 2021. It debuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
on 1 October 2021.
History
2018–2019: Formation
Alex Moore, frontman of the band, first met Scott, before the band formed. The band began as a music project at college in
Pemberton, Greater Manchester
Pemberton is a town and an electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Douglas,. which separates it from the town of Wigan, and east of the M6 motorway. The a ...
. The members consisted of drummer Ryan Durrans, bassist Lewis Halliwell, guitarist Scott Concepcion and singer Alex Moore. The band are named after a venue that they performed at. It's commonly pronounced as "La-thums", rather than "Lay-thums". When asked how it's pronounced, Moore stated, "It's just how we pronounce it. It's just how it was christened." Halliwell later left the band, so Johnny Cunliffe came on as a replacement, who also went to the same college.
In 2018, the band wrote their first song together, "Artificial Screens", which they would self-release, along with other singles that would be re-released and remastered later down the line. In April 2019, the band released their first official single, "Crying Out". It was recorded by John Kettle and then later issued. Later on, the band released another single, "The Great Escape". This garnered the attention of
Tim Burgess from
the Charlatans. He invited the band to play a set at
Kendal Calling
Kendal Calling is a music & arts festival, held annually at Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District, Cumbria in the North West of England. It has grown from a two-day, 900 capacity event in 2006 to a 25,000 capacity 4-day music festival. Kendal C ...
.
2020–2021: COVID-19 and ''How Beautiful Life Can Be''
The Lathums were signed to
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
in March 2020. The band were set as support acts for
Paul Weller
Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...
and
Blossoms
In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring.
Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as wel ...
, but they were postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. During the
COVID-19 lockdowns
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...
, the band released "All My Life" in July, an acoustic ballad, written by a 16-year-old Moore. It was produced
the Coral
The Coral are an English rock band, formed in 1996 in Hoylake on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside. The band emerged during the early 2000s. Their 2002 debut album ''The Coral'', from which came the single " Dreaming of You", was nominated for ...
's
James Skelly
James Alexander Skelly (born August 1980) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. Best known as the frontman of The Coral, he embarked on a solo career when the band went on indefinite hiatus in 2012. The band regrouped i ...
at Liverpool's Parr Street Studio.
In September 2021, the band released their debut album, ''How Beautiful Life Can Be'', which featured remastered versions of previously released singles, alongside new songs.
2022–present: Cunliffe's departure and ''From Nothing to a Little Bit More''
In April 2022, the band released ''Sad Face Baby'', the last single to feature Johnny Cunliffe on bass before his departure in 2022. The band brought on Matty Murphy as a replacement, but was not officially dubbed as a member until January 2023. During the time of Cunliffe's absence, the band were a support act for
The Killers
The Killers are an American rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingd ...
. Moore got the chance to do a cover of ''How Beautiful Life Can Be'' with them on stage, with Alex on acoustic guitar and
Brandon Flowers
Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, best known as the lead singer, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers.
In addition to his w ...
on co-lead vocals.
In November 2022, the band announced their second album, ''From Nothing to a Little Bit More''. Following the announcement, "Say My Name" and "Turmoil" were released.
In December 2022 "Say My Name" was named the
Radio X Record of the Year.
In January 2023 they released the single "Struggle".
Musical style and influences
The Lathums are an
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
band influenced by, and often compared to,
the Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...
and
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, back ...
. Concepcion said his "personal influences have been drawn from many places across British musical history".
Band members
Current members
* Alex Moore – lead vocals, guitars (2018–present)
* Scott Concepcion – backing vocals, guitars, piano (2018–present)
* Ryan Durrans – drums (2018–present)
* Matty Murphy – bass guitar, backing vocals (2023–present)
Former members
* Lewis Halliwell – bass guitar (2018)
* Johnny Cunliffe – bass guitar (2018–2022)
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Extended plays
Singles
References
English indie rock groups
Organisations based in Wigan
Musical groups established in 2019
Island Records artists
Musical groups from Lancashire
2019 establishments in England
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