The Music
Robert Harvey performing with the Music at Manchester Apollo in 2004
Robert Harvey performing with the Music at Manchester Apollo in 2004
Background information
OriginKippax, West Yorkshire, England
GenresAlternative rock, indie rock, Indietronica, Alternative dance
Years active
  • 1999–2011
  • 2020–2022
Labels
Past members
  • Robert Harvey
  • Adam Nutter
  • Stuart Coleman
  • Phil Jordan

The Music were an English alternative rock band, formed in Kippax, Leeds in 1999. Comprising Robert Harvey (vocals, guitar), Adam Nutter (lead guitar), Stuart Coleman (bass) and Phil Jordan (drums), the band came to prominence with the release of their self-titled debut album in 2002. The band released two further studio albums, Welcome to the North (2004) and Strength in Numbers (2008), before parting ways in 2011.[1]

Career

The Music all met at Brigshaw High School (except Phil Jordan, who went to Garforth), and began playing in 1999 as Insense. In 2001, the song "Take the Long Road and Walk It" circulated as a demo before being released by Fierce Panda as a 1000-copies-only single, a rarity from its day of release. Around this time NME and Steve Lamacq were describing them as the best unsigned band in Britain. The band were quickly signed by Hut, who released their first EP You Might as Well Try to Fuck Me.

In 2002, following another EP (The People) they released The Music which reached No. 4 in the UK album charts. Their debut single was re-issued as part of a two-disc set to promote the album, and reached No. 14 in the singles chart. Two further singles from the album, "Getaway" and "The Truth is No Words" reached No. 26 and No. 18 respectively. June 2003 saw them filling in for an absent Zwan on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival.[2]

In autumn 2004, they released their second album Welcome to the North and the accompanying single "Freedom Fighters", before touring with Incubus. August 2005 saw the band play at the dual-venue V Festival. In late 2006 they played a few UK gigs and subsequently posted on their site the video new song entitled Fire, which would eventually be released on Strength in Numbers two years later. The site also featured a video for unreleased track Kill 100 by X-Press 2 featuring Robert Harvey.

The band signed a new deal with Polydor in 2007 and spent the rest of the year recording their third album with producers Flood and Paul Hartnoll.

During this time Harvey also revealed the reason for the band's extended absence. On The Music's official website, he told of his initial abuse of drugs in his mid-teens: "the addiction began to sit into its groove. At first it was a joy then later became a habit and a way of escaping." He later quit drugs, but around the time of the band's second album, had replaced the addiction with alcohol: "Drinking became the place to hide. I'd have a bottle of wine before 7 pm, then go out and make a fool of myself. The next day was always panic and more questions it took a close friend to say to me 'Robert, you are depressed'". He sought help at the end of 2005, and undertook a program that included medication.[3]

In June 2008, the band released their comeback single "Strength in Numbers", and the album Strength in Numbers the following week.

In January 2010, the band began demoing material for their fourth studio album. The album was due for release sometime 2011.[4] However, Harvey left the band in September 2010, and following a series of final farewell shows, The Music split up in August 2011.[5][6][7]

Harvey went on to work extensively with Mike Skinner, beginning with a Christmas song in December 2010 called Scrooge And Marley – I Don't Want It To Be Me,[8] and continuing with The Streets' 2011 album Computers and Blues. Shortly after The Music disbanded, Harvey embarked on a new musical project dubbed The D.O.T. with Skinner. The duo released an album, And That, on 22 October 2012.

On 31 March 2011, The Music announced a series of farewell gigs on their website. The band played three shows in Japan 25–27 July. They then played Brixton Academy London, England on 4 August, before bringing the curtain down on their career with two home town gigs at the O2 Academy in Leeds on 5 and 6 August.[9]

On 21 April 2011 the band released the newest and final song of their career on their official website. "Ghost Hands" was recorded for their scrapped fourth studio album sessions. Talking about the single lead singer, Robert Harvey said:

"We love the track and it just seemed a shame to leave it gathering dust forever. It's good to go out with something positive and new and we think it deserves to see the light of day. Hopefully the fans will agree – again we want to thank everyone who's been with us on this journey and look forward to celebrating an amazing ten years this summer."[10]

Following the end of their final tour, the band, in conjunction with Concert Live, released a live CD/DVD package entitled The Last Dance: Live which captured the performances from 4 and 6 August respectively.

On 4 September 2020, The Music announced that they were to reform, and would perform at Temple Newsam in May 2021.[11] This was ultimately rescheduled for June 2022.[12] A live album and concert film, Live at Temple Newsam, was released later that year.[13] Following the shows, Harvey returned to touring with Kasabian,[14] while Nutter released his debut solo album Badlands On Fire in April 2023.[15]

Band members

  • Robert Harvey – lead vocals, guitar
  • Adam Nutter – guitar
  • Stuart Coleman – bass
  • Phil Jordan – drums

Discography

Studio and compilation albums

Year Details Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
[16]		 AUS
[17]		 FRA
[18]		 IRE
[19]		 ITA
[20]		 JPN
[21]		 US
[22]
2002 The Music 4 25 36 39 16 20 128
2004 Welcome to the North
  • Released: 20 September 2004
  • Label: Virgin
 8 23 78 68 — 10 —
2008 Strength in Numbers
  • Released: 16 June 2008
  • Label: Polydor
 19 30 — — — 19 —
2011 Singles and EPs: 2001–2005
  • Released: 31 January 2011
  • Label: Virgin
 — — — — — 81 —
"-" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles and EPs

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
[16]		 AUS
[26]		 NLD
[27]		 US Mod
[28]
2001 "Take the Long Road and Walk It" 92
[29]		 — — —
"You Might as Well Try to Fuck Me" — — — —
2002 "The People" —1 772 — — The Music
"Take the Long Road and Walk It" (reissue) 14 — — —
"Getaway" 26 — — —
2003 "The Truth Is No Words" 18 772 — —
2004 "Welcome to the North" —3 Welcome to the North
"Freedom Fighters" 15 — 100 —
"Bleed From Within" — — — —
2005 "Breakin'" 20 63 — 20
2008 "Strength in Numbers" 38 — — — Strength in Numbers
"The Spike" 114
[29]		 — — —
"Drugs" — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.
  • 1 The People E.P. reached No. 35 on the UK Indie Chart.[29]
  • 2 "The Truth Is No Words" single was released in Australia a double A-side with The People E.P.[26]
  • 3 "Welcome to the North" reached No. 3 on the UK Download Chart.[29]

DVDs

References

  1. ↑ The Music Archived 14 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine. The Music (23 April 2011). Retrieved on 10 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "Drowned In Sound Review 2003". Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2003.
  3. ↑ "Robert Harvey talks about his depression – Gigwise". Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  4. ↑ Lindsay, Andrew. "The Music begin demoing new album". stereokill.net. Archived from the original on 7 March 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Rob Harvey reveals why The Music are splitting up". NME. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "The Music show off their singles". Virgin.com. 23 February 2011. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "The Music Singles & EPs 2001–2005 Review". BBC. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "NEWS: The Streets & Rob Harvey Release Christmas Song". Ripitup.co.nz. 13 December 2010. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  9. ↑ The Music Announce Decision To Split, Farewell Tour The Music Announce Decision To Split, Farewell Tour | Live4ever
  10. ↑ "The Music Begin". Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  11. ↑ Seaman, Duncan (10 September 2020). "Leeds band The Music to play home city reunion show". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  12. ↑ The Music’s hometown reunion show has been rescheduled to 2022
  13. ↑ "THE MUSIC announce live album 'Live At Temple Newsam'". XS Noise. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  14. ↑ Thomas, Jen (14 October 2021). "Watch Kasabian play first gig since Tom Meighan's departure". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  15. ↑ Bowes, Richard (19 April 2023). "Review: Adam Nutter – Badlands On Fire". live4ever. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  16. 1 2 "UK album chart positions". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  17. ↑ "Australian album chart positions". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  18. ↑ "French album chart positions". lescharts.com. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  19. ↑ "Irish album chart positions". irish-charts.com. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  20. ↑ "Italian album chart positions". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  21. ↑ "Japanese album chart positions". oricon.co.jp/. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
  22. ↑ "Billboard 200: Week of March 15, 2003". Billboard. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  23. 1 2 "British certificates: searchable database". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  24. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Issue 956" (PDF). webarchive.nla.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  25. ↑ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 2003年3月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. March 2003 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan. 522: 13. 10 May 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  26. 1 2 Peaks of singles in Australia:
  27. ↑ "Freedom Fighters Dutch position". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
  28. ↑ "Breakin US position". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
  29. 1 2 3 4 "UK chartlog". zobbel.de. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
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