Noah and the Whale were a British indie rock and folk band from

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

, formed in 2006. The band's last line-up consisted of Charlie Fink (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

), Tom Hobden (

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

/ keyboards), Matt "Urby Whale" Owens (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

), Fred Abbott (

keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (m ...

) and Michael Petulla (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

). Doug Fink (drums), the brother of lead singer Charlie, and

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 ...

(

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

) were also past members of the band. The band have played at a number of notable venues, including a sold-out show at The Royal Albert Hall and festivals such as Coachella,

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

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 (season), spring. The Green Man is most commonly depicted in a sculpture, or other representation of ...

and

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

as well as headlining Wilderness Festival in 2013. They also toured with

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core mem ...

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson ...

and Phoenix, and played on shows such as ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production ...

'' as well as '' Later... with Jools Holland'', ''

The Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton ...

'' and '' The Andrew Marr Show''.

History

Early years and ''Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down'' (2006–2008)

The band released their debut album, entitled ''

Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down ''Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down'' is the debut album by the English band Noah and the Whale. It was released on 11 August 2008 in the United Kingdom, and on 16 September 2008 in the United States. The band has since become very popular, espec ...

'', on 11 August 2008. The album peaked at Number 5 on the official

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 ...

and has received mostly positive reviews.Elan, Priya (2008) "Noah and the Whale – Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down" (review),

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

, 2 August 2008 The album featured a brass accompaniment, provided by Jon Carvell (

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

) and Sam Kinrade (

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

). The band's original line-up also included

, who featured as backing vocals on the first album and performed with the band as much as her touring schedule allowed. In mid-2008, Marling left the band several months after the album's release. However, she continued to collaborate with band member Tom Hobden, who played fiddle on her albums '' I Speak Because I Can'' and ''

Short Movie A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

'' After the departure of Marling, Emmy the Great sang with the band for a short period of time, as well as Lillie Flynn (sister of singer

Johnny Flynn John Patrick Vivian Flynn (born 14 March 1983) is a British actor and singer-songwriter. He has starred as Dylan Witter in the Channel 4 and Netflix television sitcom '' Lovesick'', and portrayed David Bowie in the film '' Stardust''. Flynn ...

) and Rebecca Taylor of Slow Club filling the role of female vocalist during tours. The band also released a 'punk' EP at the time called ''Noah and the Whale presents: The A Sides'' featuring new songs and a reworking of "Hold My Hand As I'm Lowered" from the band's debut album. Vinyl copies of the EP are still available on the Young And Lost Club website.

''The First Days of Spring'' (2009)

From January 2009 onwards, the band started work on their second full-length LP, entitled '' The First Days of Spring''. Along with the album release, Charlie Fink wrote and directed a film that runs the entire length of the album, also entitled ''The First Days of Spring''. Fink decided not to feature female backing vocals on their second LP due to the painful but inspiring departure of Laura Marling to pursue a solo career. Her separation from the band did however inspire a change from their traditional sound, signaling a new direction in the band's music and lyrics. The album was released on 31 August 2009, a little over a year after their debut. Three days prior to the release Doug Fink, brother of lead singer Charlie, announced he would be leaving the band to pursue a career in medicine. At the same time Fred Abbott joined the band on second guitar/piano and Doug was temporarily replaced by former

Pull Tiger Tail Pull Tiger Tail (often abbreviated to PTT) were an indie rock band based in London and originating from Stratford-upon-Avon and Edinburgh; they formed in 2006 while attending Goldsmiths College. All three members had grown up together in Stratf ...

drummer Jack Hamson. "The First Days of Spring" was the first single release from the album and was made available for download from the band's website, while the first official single entitled "Blue Skies" was released on 24 August 2009 after the song received its first airplay on

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

's Radio 1 evening show earlier in the summer. The band then embarked on an extensive tour which included playing at the 2009

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fes ...

on the main stage, as well as a variety of other venues. On 30 September 2009,

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...

reported that the band's equipment, including guitars, bass instruments and their drum kit, were stolen from a car park near the Club Academy in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. The theft occurred on the night of 29 September 2009. The equipment was recovered in late December 2009. Their song "Give a Little Love" was used in an episode of '' Cougar Town'' titled "Here Comes My Girl" which first aired on 25 November 2009. The single "Blue Skies" was used in an episode of '' One Tree Hill'' titled "Some Roads Lead Nowhere" which first aired on 7 December 2009. The song was also used in an advertisement for the film '' The Descendants''. ''The First Days of Spring'' has been met with very positive reviews, showing more critical acclaim than their previous release. NME'' called the album "immense" and gave it a strong 9/10, whilst ''The Times'' awarded the album a full five stars. Towards the end of 2009 ''The Guardian'' newspaper put it at number 7 in their top albums of 2009. The Times newspaper put the album at number 9, and was also in Amazon's top albums of 2009.

''Last Night on Earth'' (2010–2012)

In January 2010, it was announced that Noah and the Whale were heading to the recording studio soon to prepare their third album, for which the band was considering the title ''Old Joy'', Demos for the new album were recorded at Bethnal Green Great Synagogue in London, featuring original drummer Doug Fink, but the band eventually recorded the album in Los Angeles, working with producer Jason Lader. Later, in an interview with the website SoonerMusic.com, lead singer Charlie announced that the album would be called '' Last Night on Earth''. On 3 December 2010 the band released a track from the upcoming album on their official website, titled "Wild Thing". The first official single from the album, "

L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N." is a song by English folk band Noah and the Whale. The single served as the lead single from the band's third studio album, '' Last Night on Earth''. The single was released in the United Kingdom as a digital download o ...

", was released on 23 January 2011, peaking at number 14 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. ''Last Night on Earth'' was released on 7 March 2011 through

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it ...

. During this period, Michael Petulla was introduced as the band's new drummer. Bassist Matt Owens and guitarist Fred Abbott auditioned upwards of 100 drummers, after placing an advertisement on Gumtree and eventually narrowed it down to 10, from which point the band rehearsed with each to see which was the best fit. Petulla, the last auditionee of the day, was picked. Following the commercial success of ''Last Night on Earth'', the band toured extensively, including three separate treks to the United States. "There was a week where we did Japan, Australia, Canada and Chicago in eight days. And I hate flying", remarked Fink. Charlie Fink Noah and the Whale 2013

In 2011 the song "Waiting for My Chance to Come" was used in the series finale for the UK teen drama '' Skins''. The song "Give It All Back" was released on YouTube on 25 November 2011.

''Heart of Nowhere'' (2013)

In January 2013, the band announced that they would be releasing a new album, entitled '' Heart of Nowhere'' on 6 May 2013, along with a four-show 'residency' at London's Palace Theatre (24 April 2013 and 5, 12 and 19 May 2013). A short film was also to accompany the new album, written and produced by lead singer Charlie Fink. On 21 March at 7:30 pm, the band aired " There Will Come a Time" on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

. Prior to the album's release, the band released images of several independent record stores where fans could find a tape of the new album. When all the tapes had been found, the band then made the album available for the public to listen to on their website. The album's second single, "Lifetime", was released in August 2013. The single was accompanied by a recording of the band performing Daft Punks's Digital Love and a music video created by Fourteen-Nineteen. After the album's release, the band embarked on the "Heart of Nowhere Tour" which included shows in Britain and North America, as well as headlining Wilderness Festival and supporting

in their UK arena tour during November 2013. On 22 November 2013, the band announced a final date of the tour at the Islington Assembly hall on 10 December, a show which mainly consisted of requests from the audience, before taking some time out to work on new material. On 24 December 2013, they released a short film titled ''Heart of Nowhere'' as a "way of saying thank you for an amazing 2013".

Hiatus and split (2013–2015)

Following their shows at London's Islington Assembly Hall and Manchester's Deaf Institute in December 2013, the band embarked on a period of 'hiatus'. After nearly a year of radio silence, the band responded to fan appeals to updates by posting links to their personal social media accounts. In a tweet that has since been deleted, Fink confirmed on his personal Twitter that Noah and the Whale were still together in early 2015. However, on 1 April 2015, the band announced on social media that they were to split. After the split, Matt Owens announced a solo album, as did Fred Abbott, who also helped to form the new band Orphan Colours with former members of Ahab and

Danny and the Champions of the World Danny and the Champions of the World are a heartland rock and soul band. Formed in London during the summer of 2007 by Danny George Wilson, the band have since released six studio albums and one live album. The band's name is an allusion to ...

. Hobden began touring with

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, k ...

as well as playing alongside both Abbott and Petulla as Matt Owens' backing band, "The Delusional Vanity Project" before joining Australian band

Gang of Youths Gang of Youths are an Australian alternative rock group from Sydney based in London. The band consists of principal songwriter David Le'aupepe (lead vocals, guitar), Max Dunn (bass guitar), Jung Kim (lead guitar, keyboards), Donnie Borzestowski ...

. Abbott released his debut solo album ''Serious Poke'' in July 2015, and has continued working with Hobden on a yearly Christmas project entitled "The Heathen and the Holy." In June 2015 Fink shared a new track titled "My Heartbeat Lost Its Rhythm", on SoundCloud. Fink also announced that he would be writing the music for the Old Vic theatre production of the Dr. Seuss classic ''The Lorax'', and later released his debut studio album ''Cover My Tracks'', in 2017, which was also accompanied by a stage show in which he performed. With the aid of an on-line campaign for the release of the band's first two albums onto vinyl, which was started in 2014, the re-release of ''Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down'' and ''The First Days of Spring'' onto vinyl was announced for 18 May 2018.

Band members

Final line-up

* Charlie Fink –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(2006–2015) * Tom Hobden –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(2006–2015) * Matt 'Urby Whale' Owens –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(2006–2015) * Fred Abbott –

(2006–2015) * Michael Petulla -

(2011–2015)

Former members

* John Hamson -

(2009-2010) * Doug Fink -

(2006–2009) *

(2006–2008) * Jon Carvell -

(2006–2008) * Sam Kinrade -

(2006–2008) Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:115 top:05 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2006 till:01/04/2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:2006 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:2006 Colors = id:LVocals value:red legend:Lead_vocals id:BVocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:LGuitar value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:RGuitar value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar id:Keys value:purple legend:Piano,_keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums,_percussion id:Trumpet value:coral legend:Trumpet id:Trombone value:yellow legend:Trombone id:Violin value:gray(0.5) legend:Violin id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album LineData = layer:back color:studio at:11/08/2008 at:31/08/2009 at:07/04/2011 at:03/05/2013 BarData = bar:Fink1 text:"Charlie Fink" bar:Hobden text:"Tom Hobden" bar:Owens text:"Matt Owens" bar:Abbott text:"Fred Abbott" bar:Marling text:"Laura Marling" bar:Carvell text:"Jon Carvell" bar:Kinrade text:"Sam Kinrade" bar:Fink2 text:"Doug Fink" bar:Hamson text:"John Hamson" bar:Petulla text:"Michael Petulla" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Fink1 from:01/01/2006 till:end color:LVocals bar:Fink1 from:01/01/2006 till:end color:RGuitar width:3 bar:Hobden from:01/01/2006 till:end color:Violin bar:Hobden from:01/01/2006 till:end color:BVocals width:5 bar:Hobden from:01/01/2006 till:end color:RGuitar width:7 bar:Hobden from:01/01/2006 till:end color:Keys width:3 bar:Owens from:01/01/2006 till:end color:Bass bar:Owens from:01/01/2006 till:end color:BVocals width:3 bar:Abbott from:01/01/2006 till:end color:LGuitar bar:Abbott from:01/01/2006 till:end color:BVocals width:7 bar:Abbott from:01/01/2006 till:end color:Keys width:3 bar:Marling from:01/01/2006 till:01/10/2008 color:BVocals bar:Carvell from:01/01/2006 till:01/10/2008 color:Trombone bar:Kinrade from:01/01/2006 till:01/10/2008 color:Trumpet bar:Fink2 from:01/01/2006 till:28/08/2009 color:Drums bar:Hamson from:15/09/2009 till:18/06/2010 color:Drums bar:Petulla from:23/01/2011 till:end color:Drums

Discography

*''

'' (2008) *'' The First Days of Spring'' (2009) *'' Last Night on Earth'' (2011) *'' Heart of Nowhere'' (2013)

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Noah And The Whale English indie rock groups Musical groups established in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 Musical groups from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames English folk musical groups Vertigo Records artists British indie folk groups