Strength in Numbers

Given the four-year hiatus between Welcome to the North and Strength in Numbers, it's easy to forget that the Music first emerged in 2001 alongside groups like the Strokes, the Vines, and the Libertines. Those three latter bands grew up throughout the mid-2000s, establishing an audience and solidifying their sound over the course of several releases; the Libertines even found time to nosedive into a spectacular crash and disband permanently. The Music, on the other hand, still seem like a young band. The members are physically young, of course -- they're barely out of their mid-twenties -- but there's also a hunger to Strength in Numbers, a sense that these Leeds-born lads have yet to truly prove themselves. And perhaps they do have a lot to prove, since the lengthy delay between records (during which Robin Harvey battled alcoholism and depression) did some damage to the band's momentum. Strength in Numbers is the Music's attempt to kick-start that old energy and ride it back into the U.K. mainstream. ... Read More...