Pitchfork

Maxïmo Park will release their previously reported new album, Our Earthly Pleasures, via Warp on April 2. "Our Velocity" is the album's first single (with a recently Forkcasted video here), and it's due out March 19. Lead singer Paul Smith described the sound of the record in an exclusive interview we did with him in August, but we recently caught up with him to get the scoop on the U.S. release of Our Earthly Pleasures, his opinions of some of his peers, and what he's been listening to lately, including a mutual favorite: Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not revealing any secret information by saying we'll be on Warp again and that [Our Earthly Pleasures] will come out [in the U.S.] around the time [of the UK release], if not on the same day," Smith said. Maxïmo Park also plan to tour the U.S. soon. "I think we'll do one or two tours, depending on if people are interested or not."

Since Maxïmo Park were originally grouped with a whole crop of British bands who recently released sophomore albums (see: Field Music's Tones of Town, Bloc Party's A Weekend in the City, and, slightly less recently, the Futureheads' News & Tributes), Smith also gave us his thoughts on where his band currently stands among their cohorts.

"I know Peter [Brewis] from Field Music quite well, and we were fortunate enough to support Bloc Party and the Futureheads on tour. They're part of our history. Even if I hated them, I'd still be affectionate toward those times, and as it stands I think the unfortunate thing is that we're often lumped in with another section of bands that we don't really have anything in common with, like Kaiser Chiefs or Hard-Fi. Bands like Bloc Party and the Futureheads and Field Music have always tried to reach out for something. [Bloc Party frontman] Kele [Okereke] is always talking about r&b music and stuff that I love, and Field Music don't really care what's cool. They just make records that are totally representative of their tastes, which go in directions not thought of before. And the same could be said of the Futureheads; their first record to me was really exciting. And it made you think about what you're doing. You actually felt challenged by the music, as well as exhilarated.

"When I listen to something like Field Music, I think, 'I want to write a song as good as that,' because I think they're pretty much the best band in Britain. I think they raised the bar. Because I know them, I kind of think, 'Okay, you've done that. Let's see what we can do.' I remember ten years ago, when I was trying to think [of] what concerts I should go to, there were lots of bands in local pubs that looked like Oasis, that had that mod-y haircut, and sometimes it feels like nothing has changed. It just feels like it was always this [way]."

Smith also had loads to say about his recent listening pleasures, which include the Shins' Wincing the Night Away and Joanna Newsom's Ys. "To be honest, I've only listened to [Wincing the Night Away] maybe one time in full, and I've fallen asleep to it a few times just before I go to bed. I need to make a fuller judgment on it, but I love [James Mercer's] vocal melodies, regardless of the production. I'm just listening to it with an open ear, just trying to get that melody. I saw Joanna Newsom the other week with Alasdair Roberts, and I think her record is just-- a lot of people say it's overambitious, and a lot of people say it's brilliant because it's amazing to see somebody this brave in modern music. And while I don't disagree with that, I just enjoy it. Some parts are challenging, and some parts are very simple, to just listen to her voice and be enraptured by it. I've also got the Young Jeezy The Inspiration record, and I like parts of that. I'm always looking for something. That's my problem really: always searching."

Hell Hath No Fury, however, is a tried-and-true recent favorite of Smith's. "I was listening to it this morning. I was shouting, 'I don't fear Tubbs and Crockett,' all the way down the street, much to people's aggravation, I think. I was with my band. And I was saying something about being a snowman; I can't remember."