Sitting in the back room of their local Deptford pub, Athlete are trying to explain the development their sound has made on Tourist, the quartet's marvelous second album. 'The last album was quirky pop. And it was good quirky pop,' says Stephen, no doubt to the agreement of fans who bought 2004's Vehicles And Animals and the judging panel that shortlisted it for the Mercury Award. 'But we wanted to push ourselves further.' 'We'll always love good melodies,' agrees Joel. 'But pop in itself wasn't enough for this record.'
Instead, when Carey,...
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