Luke Pritchard, vocals, guitar, songwriter
I wrote Naive after I was 15 or 16 – earlier than we had the band – however I didn’t prefer it. I used to be fairly a paranoid, unconfident child and I had a relationship with somebody who was getting right into a world that I didn’t perceive. The track is concerning the worry of somebody doing one thing dangerous to you. The lyrics are actual in some methods, however I used to be too younger to have truly skilled that state of affairs, so it was extra me projecting my teenage fears. I’ve discovered myself in that state of affairs since – it’s turn out to be one thing of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
At that age, I’d stand up at 2 or 3am and write tunes, and if I may bear in mind one thing within the morning I’d realize it was value pursuing. Naive was like that, most likely written in a short time. Hugh Harris, our guitarist, used to sofa surf at my flat. We had been on the Brit Faculty on the identical time however I didn’t actually get to know him till we each went to Bimm [the British and Irish Modern Music Institute] in Brighton. He noticed me enjoying guitar on the steps, then later when he jammed alongside I assumed: “This man’s superb.” Paul Garred, our drummer, was there from the start and we discovered a bass-player in Max Rafferty. We had been indie rock’n’roll however had extra pop and bounce than different bands.
After we bought signed it was a wrestle for the document firm to get us to document Naive. Paul fairly preferred it however I feel Max thought it was tacky. Our A&R supervisor stated: “You must document this.” I assumed he meant as a B-side, however he stated: “That’s the large single!” No person actually wished to do it, although, and midway by way of everybody went to the pub. Then we simply couldn’t get it proper. However after I heard the completed combine, I assumed: “Oh, individuals would possibly like this.”
I’m nonetheless dumbfounded by the track’s success and the way individuals linked with it. The video director poured his personal experiences into the video, which gave it a unique that means – about dishonest. We shot it in Nambucca on London’s Holloway Highway – the Holloways’ hangout – which was fairly decadent. I assumed Naive was only a throwaway campfire track, however the band introduced it to life. Though I can nonetheless relate to the lyrics, I’m a modified man.
Hugh Harris, lead guitar, songwriter
There are variations of Naive within the vaults of Virgin Information that may make us die of embarrassment if we heard them now. We simply couldn’t get the guitars to syncopate with the dancier rhythm. We tried it as ska. We even tried it as reggae. Finally, I discovered a two-note guitar half and we simplified the drums, then simply went time and again it once more. It was exhausting. I don’t assume the track actually suited our band on the time, however it was enormous.
Naive was the fourth single off the primary album. There’s an occult-like magic to the construction in that it creates pressure after which releases it with the refrain. We’d been listening to Ben Harper and early Jack Johnson – it’s a type of seashore, surfy track. We recorded it across the time that bands like Coldplay had been shifting into stadiums, and their muscular chord sequences on songs like In My Place pulled on the heartstrings. As a band, we had been choosing up on that and considering: “Why not have a giant pop document?” The thought was to then get individuals to hearken to the weirder stuff we had been arising with.
It resonates with plenty of younger individuals now and nonetheless brings recent waves of followers to our exhibits. Dad and mom play it to their youngsters and siblings hand it all the way down to their youthful siblings. When it got here out, it bought performed to demise on Radio 1, however to see it nonetheless have energy with out the assistance of radio is enormously rewarding. Luke wrote it when he was very younger however he was assured sufficient to sing about dysfunction. It’s coming from a younger thoughts and it’s precisely what a teen can join with.
