The L Magazine: Your album starts with the quote, “If there’s nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire.” Can you discuss what about that specific quote you found inspiring? Did you want that idea to be a theme for the record?
Torquil Campbell: It’s something I had my dad say into the phone just as we were finishing mastering. I like the fact that often in hip-hop records, the artist will speak directly to the listener on the intro and sort of pull them into the world of the record, so we do something like that at the beginning of each of our records. I think setting yourself on fire is a metaphor for an attitude I’ve long espoused. It means two things: one, you should always reveal your weakness before someone reveals it for you, and two, in order to really affect anything, you have to burn, which is a renewing action but also a self-destructive one. I think the people in this band share that in common; we all know how to set ourselves on fire when necessary. The little kitchen-sink dramas we write focus on the moments in people’s lives when they decide to do something that will change everything for them, and I think in these moments they set themselves on fire.
The L: In ‘He Lied About Death’, you’re really tackling something political, which is new ground for you. Can you talk a little about that decision?
TC: I think we had a lot of rage inside us and wanted to express it. But I think, more to the point, we wanted to point out the relationship between what happens in the world of geopolitics and the way in which people behave towards each other every day. If you don’t recognize love as the single most powerful and crucial element in all of our lives, then how can you possibly talk about real social change or revolution? The songs are just as much an attack on Osama bin Laden as they are on George W. — they’re both the failed sons of oil barons using their so-called “religious awakening” to spread hatred and make money for their friends. They’re on the same side!
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