It's been exactly
five years since Charlie Fink and his musical band of friends - his brother Doug on drums, Tom "Fiddle" Hobden on violin, Matt "Urby Whale" Owens on harmonium and bass and
Laura Marling on backing vocals - first appeared on the London nu-folk circuit, their moniker a conflation of a famous indie
film and its director:
Noah and the Whale.
The essential NATW timeline:
2006
- first gig at the Betsey Trotwood, playing to the sound engineer plus an audience of 7.
2007
- their Wes Anderson-esque antics for the bittersweet whistle & ukulele ditty
Five Years Time quickly gather them a following: the song becomes a summer hit and eventually reaches #7 in the UK charts.
(Together with their own original upload, it's currently at over four million YT views.)
- performance at Jeremy Warmsley's house in the WelcomeToOurTVShow series.
- experimenting his cinematic inclination, Charlie directs an early video: 2 Bodies 1 Heart.
- Charlie produces Laura Marling's first album Alas, I Cannot Swim, which is later nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize.
- their gear is stolen, and then recovered.
2008
- their first album,
Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, debuts at #5 on the UK charts, and earns them
one scathing critique.
- Laura Marling leaves the band - and Charlie Fink (
for Marcus Mumford).
- NATW play for Vincent Moon's Take-Away Show #91, shot in Paris.
- NATW tour the US and licensed their hit song for Saturn and Sun Chips commercials.
- they record an as-yet unreleased punk album, including covers of Daniel Johnston, Jens Lekman, and Jackson C. Frank.
2009
- with a new line-up they release their second album,
First Days of Spring, an
in-depth exploration of Fink's
heartbreak, published both as a CD and as a 40-minute album film (that you can watch
here).
- they record a beautifully intimate
acoustic version of Blue Skies at the WFUV's Alternate Side.
2010
- NATW contribute a cover of Tom Petty's Last DJ to protest the proposed closure of BBC6.
- after an extended tour of Europe and the UK, they begin recording their new album in studios in Bethnal Green and Venice Beach.
2011
- their third album,
Last Night on Earth marks a further
transformation for the band, and reaches #8 on the UK charts. As a corollary to the recording, they publish a
cinematic look into their
creative process, including all the original
demos for the album. You can also watch their sing-along anthem
L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. as filmed by Charlie or else as performed
live at the recent Reading Festival, as well as a great video (shot by
Autumn de Wilde) for
Life Is Life.
- NATW's recent covers and collaborations include a track with Charlotte Gainsbourg and a version of John Cale's Barracuda for a BBC1 session.
- hear their whole Sasquatch 2011 set here on NPR.
So, here's to...
five more years?
posted by knile at 1:05 AM on September 14, 2011