Recorded with long-term collaborator, producer John Goodmanson (Girls, Sleater Kinney, Los Campesinos!) in Seattle, the band’s third album, ‘Motto’, is a distillation of all that makes Sky Larkin great.
Written for the most part whilst Katie was on the road playing in Wild Beasts, its varied themes and moods reflect the experience of performing in 28 countries and 20 months, a journey that became the record’s foundation. ‘Motto’, the name itself chosen on the 2nd day of the Wild Beasts tour, is a wide and swerving album venturing themes through love (‘Treasury’), loss (‘Loom’), the band’s Yorkshire home (‘Tarn’), seasons and lobotomies (‘Frozen Summer’) and much more beyond.
Through all it’s themes and moods, ‘Motto’ showcases Sky Larkin’s unshakable ability to conjure immediately satisfying, vibrant indie rock. “I’ve always wanted our records to be immediate at their most accessible, and at their most expansive, inhabitable” explains Harkin. “I really wanted to make something beautiful that wasn’t also permissive.”
Since the release of their second album ‘Kaleide’ in August 2010 and subsequent touring with the likes of Les Savy Fav, Cloud Nothings, Best Coast and Frightened Rabbit, the band took a hiatus. Singer and guitarist Katie Harkin joined fellow northerners Wild Beasts an as extra live band member to accommodate the expansive sound of ‘Smother’, touring through 2011 and 12, whilst drummer Nestor Matthews sat behind the kit to record with Menace Beach and Giant Fang. Alongside the talents of musicians Nile Marr (AKA Man Made) and Sam Pryor (of These Monsters), Sky Larkin spent this past winter writing a new record in Yorkshire, before taking themselves to Seattle to record their third album.The results promise to be the defining Sky Larkin album.
Now well established in the indie rock world, Sky Larkin formed in 2005 with school friends Katie Harkin and Nestor Matthews. After spending their early days earning their stripes appearing alongside bands such as Los Campesinos!, The Organ, Gossip, Architecture In Helsinki and Wild Beasts, the band caught the attention of Wichita Recordings and subsequently released debut album ‘The Golden Spike’ to much acclaim in 2009. Between then and the release of their second record ‘Kaleide’, they have toured throughout the world, headlining and sharing stages with the likes of Stereolab, Broken Social Scene, Conor Oberst, and The Cribs.