Month: February 2011

British trio White Lies—guitarist/vocalist Harry McVeigh, bassist Charles Cave and drummer Jack Lawrence-Brown—just released Ritual (Geffen/Fiction), which follows up To Lose My Life…, the band’s commercially successful 2009 debut. The 10-track sophomore LP was co-produced by Alan Moulder (Depeche Mode, Killers) and was written over a five-week period when White Lies wasn’t crisscrossing the globe in support of its first album. Though McVeigh, Cave and Lawrence-Brown are all barely old enough to drink legally in the U.S., the threesome has been playing together as a band since their mid-teens, first as Fear Of Flying, which released two singles produced by Stephen Street (Smiths, Blur), and then under the White Lies moniker. The trio will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with them.

Lawrence-Brown: I have a poster of Juliette Binoche on the wall of my living room in my flat. It’s the cover of the film Three Colors: Blue by Krzysztof Kieślowski and is one of my favourite images of anything ever. There really is no subtle or intelligent way to explain why I would choose Juliette Binoche as something or someone to talk about. So I won’t. She is just a total babe. The one. She also happens to be one hell of an actor. Three Colors: Blue is my favourite film that she stars in (and also one of my favourite films ever), but she also puts in great performances in Hidden and Code Unknown by Michael Haneke. She does a pretty good job in the film adaptation of The Unbearable Lightness Of Being, although the movie itself doesn’t really do the original book much justice. Anyhow, for my money Juliette Binoche has got it all, and she makes me wish I were 10 years older, just so I could pretend I’d have a shot with her. Oh well.

Video after the jump.

British trio White Lies—guitarist/vocalist Harry McVeigh, bassist Charles Cave and drummer Jack Lawrence-Brown—just released Ritual (Geffen/Fiction), which follows up To Lose My Life…, the band’s commercially successful 2009 debut. The 10-track sophomore LP was co-produced by Alan Moulder (Depeche Mode, Killers) and was written over a five-week period when White Lies wasn’t crisscrossing the globe in support of its first album. Though McVeigh, Cave and Lawrence-Brown are all barely old enough to drink legally in the U.S., the threesome has been playing together as a band since their mid-teens, first as Fear Of Flying, which released two singles produced by Stephen Street (Smiths, Blur), and then under the White Lies moniker. The trio will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with them.

Lawrence-Brown: When you are touring for the best part of two years almost constantly, it is the little things along the way that start to become more and more important. As the status of White Lies has gradually increased over the past couple of years, it seems the quality of our hotel rooms has followed in a similar vein, and as such, the quality of the little things has also improved. I’m talking about mint shower gel, citrus shampoo, tea-tree conditioner. But all in miniature bottles! I’m talking about Nespresso coffee machines and a complimentary bottle of sparkling water. Even dressing gowns and slippers. Ok, the hotel will charge you if you try and take these last two items away with you, but for the duration of your stay in that particular hotel room, they are yours to enjoy. Recently, legendary Welsh nutcase Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals/Neon Neon fame has built a miniature hotel out of the miniature shampoo bottles and other items he has collected from his years of touring, which is a lovely visual representation of life on the road. It is a great feeling when you check into a slightly swankier hotel than usual and discover rows of high-class lotions and cleansing products waiting for you by the sink. You know they’re yours to keep. You’ve really done nothing to deserve them. Maybe you’ll use them, maybe you’ll put them in your wash bag in case the next hotel is a dump. It doesn’t really matter which you choose—they’re still yours. Like I said, it’s the little things.

Video after the jump.