For the occasion, James Cox (vocals), Steve Goddard (guitar), Jith Amarasinghe (bass) and Sam Lister (drums), swapped their usual rehearsal space, a small studio in Homerton, East London, for the cavernous walls of a “weird little studio” – as Goddard puts it – in Stroud, Gloucestershire. More specifically, a former Catholic church and convent where the band parked themselves up in the crypt, which was more conducive to inspiring the foundations for ‘Reason Enough’. “Having a more relaxed approach this time around meant we could explore different stuff,” Goddard says. “We don’t want to sound the same as we did before – this is our third album, we have to move on. And so we fucked around a bit more.”
Armed with dozens of ideas, they returned to London in a bid to finesse them all alongside Mercury Prize-nominated producer and master of the polished indie record Andy Savours (Black County, New Road, My Bloody Valentine). The result: a concise, 10-track album which goes a long way to show Crows’ sonic versatility. It’s more melodic work than what Crows have previously done, “rather than being all-out punk”, as Goddard puts it. “It feels less lo-fi, cleaner and more well-rounded as a result,” Cox adds.
Lyrically, Cox drew heavily from a difficult year, both personally and in terms of facing up to a heavygoing news cycle. “I went pretty unhappy with the lyrics and vocals,” he says. “I wanted to moan a bit. If the last album was angrier, this one is definitely sadder.” Indeed, a general sense of malaise, isolation, unease and a desire for growth in spite of it all permeate ‘Reason Enough’ – an album which strikes a satisfying balance between existentialism, soul-searching, and a discerning brand of indie-rock: “We’re doing the same thing, but a lot better. This is Crows in high definition.”
