In the first half of 2003, Deptfore foursome Athlete followed up a string of interesting, bright and catchy pop singles with their debut album, Vehicles and Animals. It got a fair amount of attention and even managed to snag a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Music Award --which should not really come as a surprise given their original indie-pop sound, full of instantly recognizable, almost-childish choruses, and insanely funny lyrics. After all, it was practically impossible not to like songs like 'Westside', with its chorus "Wherever you look, you can see / that everybody wants to be / part of the rock scene."
Fast forward to the present, and Athlete are gearing up for the always difficult release of their sophomore effort, which will be titled Tourist. Its first single comes out in three weeks and has little to do with what we'd come to expect from them: gone are the upbeat melodies and toyful lyrics; instead, they bring us a moving ballad about a newborn baby's struggle for survival. Warm piano line, heartfelt vocals, poignant lyrics, grandiloquent strings and an epic production: it's got all the ingredients to become their breakthrough hit and turn Athlete into a household name in 2005, at least in the UK. Check out the video for 'Wires'.
