Athlete + Carney June 6, 2010

Since bouncing to prominence seven years ago with the spirited, electro-tinged, indie-pop of their Mercury-nominated debut, ‘Vehicles And Animals', Athlete have established themselves among the UK's finest songsmiths. The south east Londoners have sold more than a million copies of their three hit albums (the other two being 2005's ‘Tourist' and 2007's ‘Beyond The Neighbourhood'); packed out venues across the land; picked up an Ivor Novello award; and topped both the UK's album and airplay charts.

‘Black Swan', their fourth album, is a musical summary of everything Athlete have been through; the good, the bad and the ugly. But although its songs burn with literate emotion, this certainly isn't a downbeat record. In fact, the album begins with the hurtling FM rush of glorious first single, ‘Superhuman Touch', which catapults the album into life with the opening line, "I'm on fire and nothing's gonna hold me back".

The album reaches its climax with ‘The Awkward Goodbye', an intensely personal tale of love slipping away; the snappy ‘Magical Mistakes', a giddy gush of proud, parental love; and ‘Rubik's Cube' which, according to Joel, "Sums everything up. It's about puzzling through life, working it out as you go along and having to deal with its uncertainties. That's the magic of life, really."

http://www.myspace.com/athlete
http://www.carneyband.com/

Official Website: http://www.jamminjava.com/