. . .Kubb?
Mum's the word: If you think the world is a poorer place without The Christians, The Lighthouse Family and Climie Fisher, you just might welcome the arrival of these purveyors of silky smooth UK pop. Led by cool Caribbean dude Harry Collier, Kubb are seducing pop-pickers by stealth; before you know it, they'll be on stereos, supermarket tannoys and elevators every- where. Their current album, Mother, is a classic, easily listenable slow-burner which has gone silver in the UK and spawned the hit singles Grow and Wicked Soul. "We all love our mothers and respect them, but we don't respect the feminine part ourselves," explains Collier. "The earth is our mother; we're all made of dirt. It's given birth to us. Most people's emotional make-up stems from their relationship with their mother. So it's a very pertinent word and a very beautiful word."
Tropical mix: Collier's mum hails from Tobago and his dad comes from London. Young Harry was born in Liverpool but grew up in Tobago, where he immersed himself in Caribbean sounds and rhythms. He also learned the recorder, clarinet and classical guitar, but found that his real talent lay in singing. He also discovered a prodigious talent for taking drugs, which he deals with in one of the album's songs, Chemical. "Doing too much coke, too many pills and smoking 20 spliffs a day for the last five years," he recalls. He also - bizarrely - knocked back copious quantities of the decongestant ephedrine.
Rollo with it: Kubb began when Collier was working as a waiter in London and was called upon to sing Happy Birthday to a customer. The customer was Rollo from dance act Faithless. As the brother of Dido, he knew a good radio voice when he heard it, and so he invited Collier to work with him on tracks for his Dusted side project. The sessions came to naught, but Collier hooked up with Rollo's mate Ben Langmaid and Langmaid's mate Jeff Patterson, and the three began writing the sun-drenched soft-rock songs that would eventually end up on Mother. These include the bitter Somebody Else and Bitch, the power-ballad Sun and the uplifting I Don't Mind.
Place your hands: With the songs running around in his head, Collier needed a band to play them, so he signed on drummer Dom Greensmith, who had formerly found fame with 1990s hard-rockers Reef. John Tilley joined on keyboards, fresh from classical training, and guitarist Adj arrived via an ad in NME. Collier himself handles bass duties. The band's new single, Remain, is out now. "It feels right to do Kubb," says Collier. "And I'm not gonna look any further. Any further than that - who might like it, who might be interested in me, all of that stuff - is none of my business. That's only fuel for the ego. You need the ego a little bit. But self-importance will bring you down eventually. And leads to pain. And I've had enough of that."
