The Clientele Lighten Up On New Album

The Clientele's Strange Geometry garnered a lot of belated critical attention and a serious cult following after its 2005 release.

While the London-based outfit's record dripped with a dour self-reflexive introspection, the new God Save The Clientele finds the band much happier. They've also expanded their lineup to include pianist/violinist Mel Draisey, adding another melodic layer to their languid indie pop.

In a conversation punctuated by frequent laughter and a healthy helping of dry wit, guitarist, vocalist and wordsmith Alasdair MacLean makes it very clear that it was a deliberate shift in direction for the band brought about by a myriad of circumstances.

"This record, I wanted to let the air into the room a little bit more and play music that is a bit more fun, a bit more energetic — not quite so Victorian and decadent. I think that's where the more up-tempo and more rhythmic elements come from. Just wanting to change a little bit, do something fresher and more fun, joyful rather than almost at times suicidal."

MacLean attributes his newfound exuberant approach to music, in part at least, to the records he listened to as a child — or, as he puts it, "the kind of music I used to love before I became snobbish or had musical taste.

"Bands, and we're playing fast and loose with the term, like The Monkees and The Banana Splits.

"I loved bubblegum pop and I still do really love it, and I think that's the great thing about pop music is that it often doesn't really date at all," says MacLean. "Those bands left an indelible mark on me as a child and I wanted to kind of recapture that feeling of sunlight that I get when I listen to those bands."

When it came to infusing elements of the pop that he loves so much, MacLean took a simple approach.

"My philosophy is that 33 per cent of pop music should be complete nonsense anyway. So that's the way it's written. And for those things to happen generally, a hangover is key. That seems to change the brainwaves so that they flow in that direction."

The other element of their sharp change in sound is the aforementioned Draisey, who MacLean says has taken over playing a lot of the melodies, freeing him to take on a different role.

"I can play rhythm now, which I love doing, and it's what I wanted to do, too. That changed the whole basis of the band and it's also why there's a lot more upbeat stuff, because I write a lot more rhythmically now."

Perhaps the perfect encapsulation of the band's new approach is the disco bump of "Bookshop Casanova," something that's been pointed out in nearly every review of the new record. But MacLean hints at a personal mindset that didn't allow him to write happy music while working on Strange Geometry.

"It's not the kind of thing I would have ever written a song about until maybe a year ago. It just fell out of me."

When MacLean is pressed on the distance he seems to put between himself now and the person he was when he wrote Strange Geometry, he's reticent to get into details. And in his affable, but very proper lilt, he evasively sums everything up without divulging any more than he has to.

"The older record for me was very much my world to an extent that there are things that I can't even say in interviews about it because it's too personal. But the new record is also very connected to me, but I'm in a breezier, happier mood these days. I'm enjoying that reflection of that fact, that it's not a record that's gonna make people jump out of windows."

Often when a band stare down the barrel of a large amount of critical success, there's pressure to reproduce the magic of former records. Happily, it wasn't that way for The Clientele. MacLean says that he can't read reviews of his band because "it doesn't even seem to be the same band that I'm in that I'm reading about."

Critical assessment aside, The Clientele have been embraced by a large chunk of Europe and have had even more success with North American crowds. With a couple of lengthy tours under their belts, the band's home turf remains strangely cool to their dream-pop.

"In strange places like France or Germany, we can play to a big crowd," says MacLean. "But in England we're still relentlessly anonymous, I'm afraid, so I think that North America is still the place that treats us best — though I'd be a miserable bastard if I was complaining."

The Clientele and Beach House play Toronto's El Mocambo on Monday and Montreal's Club Lambi on Wednesday.