Lonely The Brave: Crossing That Victory Line

If you are able to cast your memory back to the turn of the decade you might be able to remember when Warped Tour came to the UK for the first time in decades. Despite the largely stacked line up of that first return, a late coming band were booked at seemingly the last minute to round everything off. That band was a fresh LONELY THE BRAVE, doing the rounds to hype up their, at the time, as yet untitled debut record. With the blessing of Andy Copping as well, it was clear there was something special surrounding this band, and it was only a matter of time before they fully revealed exactly why they were so backed at the time.

In 2014, LONELY THE BRAVE dropped The Days War to resounding and well deserved praise. Their sound caught somewhere between the DEFTONES serenity and the anthemic size of bands like SNOW PATROL it was clear that this was a sound destined for mass appeal, and the performances that followed the albums release affirmed that, as the band would return to Reading & Leeds Festival on the second stage as opposed to the BBC Introducing Stage they had played before. The growth was exponential and the pressure put on the band to follow up their success with even more was increasing as well.

The Days War success meant that a follow up was a case of when and not if. And as we speak with guitarist Mark and bassist Andrew ‘Bushy’ it’s clear that the outside influences started to come in quickly to further capitalise upon the momentum. “I think Things Will Matter had a lot of pressure and lots of people had ideas about what it should sound like,” explains Bushy, with Mark adding, “for context, we were told to sound like REM on one day and then DEFTONES on another.” This constant to and fro was what would lead the band to write such a darker and more distinctly melancholy record than the triumphant sounds of their debut.

Following on from Things Will Matter meant the replacement of David Jakes as vocalist with Jack Bennett and the longest period of time between releases for the band since their debut release. “There was never a conversation about calling it a day, it was always just like, right, let’s crack on and find someone else,” Mark explains. “We didn’t ever want someone to come and be Dave 2.0. The beauty of Jack is that he has such a range that he can do the old songs and do them justice.” Having known Jack through the UK music scene, the fit was perfect for the band and the all clear was given for the next stage in the band’s career.

Thanks to the infectious global bastard of 2020 and the highly social lives of the members the writing and recording for this year’s The Hope List was different to what the band have been used to previously. And despite Mark lamenting the lack of opportunity to see Bushy track his bass live in the studio, there is a real sense of adventure and optimism within every new track released as we loom closer. “We didn’t get into a band to keep releasing crap; to keep spinning Spotify. It has to mean something to us otherwise it’s pointless,” explains Mark as he opens up about his love of film score and the need for something more to be found within the music of LONELY THE BRAVE. As Bushy mentions the diverse influences of each member, himself being a huge acoustic fan, he also adds the fact that Jack has added even further influences through his lyric work and storytelling that makes this new chapter of the band all the more interesting and exciting as a result.

With each chapter of the LONELY THE BRAVE story there has been a distinct context surrounding it. From their ascension in the years of their debut to the stress and pressure of their sophomore release, each release is coloured by its context. Now, with a new start facing them after so long, it must be fair to say this is the most important record of the band’s career, right? “It’s a new singer, new material, of course it’s important,” is what Mark has to say, going on to add, “I don’t think any of us write based on what the industry or what a record label wants us to sound like, music is a product of our environment and what we’re going through at the time. Of course this is an important record, if we came back after this time with a new singer and it was crap, then in that sense it’s important.”

For a band with so much momentum and praise behind them, this new decade has shades of a new beginning for them, with more reasons than simply a new vocalist and a new album. With Dave leaving and taking his unique stage presence with him, Mark is now able to take a step back away from being the de-facto frontman he used to be to make up for Dave finding his space at the back of the stage. Jack offering his talents and his abilities as a performer means that LONELY THE BRAVE face a future where they are truly able to come into their own in the way they originally envisioned it, as Mark admits he never planned to be any form of frontman. There is a tangible sense of dedication from both Mark and Bushy, and to say the future looks bright would be a poor choice of phrase for them, because the future has always been bright for LONELY THE BRAVE. It’s just time to let them bathe in that light a bit more.

The Hope List is out now via Easy Life Records. 

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