Pop Buzz UK

Record label 679 Recordings has dropped the British Alternative/Indie rockers The Futureheads. The band is one of the best new young groups of recent years and are one of the recent crop of bands to emerge from the North-East of England. Along with contemporaries Maximo Park, Kubichek! And Yourcodenameis:milo, all from Newcastle, Sunderland’s Futureheads has helped put the Northeast back on the music map of England. I love their style, the energy they put into their music, and even their videos usually have a touch of class and a unique British feel to them. I could go on for ages about how good they are but it’s probably best if I let the band show you instead. Here’s their video for Area, a song released as part of an EP between the albums and on News & Tributes in the US…

Whether they were dropped or mutually left is open to interpretation but it looks as though after the recent album “News & Tributesâ€? disappointed in sales terms, the two parties have gone their separate ways. Speaking to BBC6 Music, lead singer Barry Hyde said “I’m over the moon about it to be honest with you, ‘cos I feel like we’re free now. We weren’t happy as a band on that label. It’s good to get out of the shackles of being tied down to something. I think it’s put us in a very strong position ‘cos we’re still a band that people like.”

The band’s debut album, 2004’s self-titled “The Futureheads� has sold over 150,000 copies so far and spawned 5 singles including Hounds Of Love, which reached number 8 in the UK charts. This Kate Bush cover was a genius reworking, which shot the band to the mainstream music scene. Watch the video here…

News & Tributes, released in June of this year, was loved by the critics and fans alike but has only managed to sell a measly 32,000 copies to date. The band kicks off a UK tour this Saturday in Preston and will be visiting Glasgow, London, Manchester and Newcastle in future weeks. I can’t see the band being without a label for long. They are one of the most innovative and best bands around at the moment and also are fantastic live. I saw them a few months ago and was blown away by the energy on stage. Here they are playing Decent Days and Nights at last year’s Glastonbury festival.

If they are not picked up and carry on recording, it’ll be a sad day for the fans and shows what a state the British music industry is in right now. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the third album to be released and be as brilliant as it should be.

Futureheads, 679, Maximo Park, Hounds Of Love, Glastonbury