*WE'VE ALWAYS been a bit of an oddity really, always hanging around the periphery of whatever movement was around, never the centre of attention. After the greatest hits came out, it all kind of ended. Since then, I've been trying to keep pace with my own tastes in music. The new album I think, reflects more where I am right now.*
Even if he'd never released a record under his own steam, Ian Broudie's place in British rock history would have been secured a long time ago. After spells in various Liverpool punk outfits in the late '70s (including Big In Japan and The Secrets) Broudie moved to the other side of the studio console, producing a slew of highly rated, mainly indie bands. The most celebrated of his early production triumphs are undoubtedly his work with Echo ... The Bunnymen whose first two albums, Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here he produced. Others to have benefited from the Broudie touch over the years have included The Fall, Wah!, Northside, The Primitives, The Icicle Works and The Bodines.
Then, at the end of the decade, Broudie along with a couple of associates founded The Lightning Seeds and released the singles 'Joy' and 'Pure', the latter reaching no 16 in the UK charts and becoming a surprise hit in the States. Cloudcuckooland, their first album, came out in 1990 and thus began the slow but steady haul to national prominence.
Throughout the '90s The Lightning Seeds released a handful of albums and a string of singles. Songs like 'Lucky You', 'Change', 'All I Want' and 'Perfect' have stood the test of time, transcending the Britpop malarky with which Broudie was lumped in with for a while. For sheer quality, consistency and unadulterated pop brilliance they remain unmatched. A commercial pinnacle was reached when Broudie along with help from fellow footie fanatics Frank Skinner and David Baddiel wrote and performed 'Three Lions' for the '96 World Cup. Not the worst football song ever released, it gave Broudie his first number one, firmly establishing him as the national pop treasure he continues to be.
Now comes Tilt, the Seeds' first studio album since 1996's Dizzy Heights, and the first new material to follow in the wake of their half million selling collection Like You Do... The Best Of The Lightning Seeds. Though not completely devoid of the Seeds' beloved jangly textures and mini-anthems of yore, Tilt is certainly more electronic, studio-bound, psychedelic even, than anything that has gone before it. The resultant sound is not altogether unfamiliar, with shades of New Order (circa Technique) and more obviously The Pet Shop Boys weaving in and out of the crowded mix. No surprises then that Tilt has been described as the Seeds' most experimental and daring outing to date. Is this a natural progression or a sideways move on Broudie's part?
*I think we've always been experimental,* he says. *We've used loops before, right back to the first album. I wasn't necessarily looking for a new identity or anything but all the best artists and groups progress in some way or other. Whether it's Marvin Gaye, Bowie or The Beatles - no matter what they do with the sound, you still know it's them. The thing that's been weird recently is that bands seem to progress - not by doing something different themselves but by getting someone else to do it for them. Like, say Happy Mondays or Primal Scream getting Paul Oakanfold in to do a remix job. Even though I love a lot of those records, I didn't want to do it that way. It becomes more them, not you.*
For all its stylistic innovation and experimental striving, the songs on Tilt retain their melodic three-minute pop essence and long-time Lightning Seeds fans have nothing to fear. The sumptuously soaring single 'Life's Too Short', a majestic blend of disco, hi-nrg and psychadelia is up there with their best songs to date, 'Sweetest Soul Sensation' takes a vocal sample from Al Green and weaves it into a syncopated, slow-burning melting pot of soul, while 'I Wish I Was In Love' cleverly re-works the guitar lick from Peter Green's 'Man Of The World'. The most Beatlesque song on Tilt 'Tales of The Riverbank' (written for the Liverpool dockers) is marked by heavily phased acoustic guitar and brass with a 'Strawberry Fields' style drum roll, played by Zak Starkey, son of Ringo and permanent member of the Seeds for the past few years.
How does Broudie feel about this direct connection to Liverpool's illustrious musical past?
*I never really think about it all that much to be honest,* he says. *Zak is the way he is. I think his family background probably counted against him in the beginning, but it doesn't matter at all now. I met Ringo just once but I didn't talk to him about the Beatles.*
Given his penchant for classic, quintessentially English pop melodies does he feel that his Liverpool background will forever inform his songwriting approach?
*You definitely become aware of it and it gets into your consciousness, there's no doubt about that. I don't know if it's a strictly Liverpool thing, maybe it's a northern thing. There are certain places that are just musically inclined. Liverpool is one of them, Manchester and Dublin are others. I've moved down to London in the last few years and things move much faster here than in Liverpool. Whatever is in anywhere else, it's in in London pretty quickly.
"Liverpool was never a great punk town in its day. Bands always did their own thing rather than follow any movement. Like everyone else in the seventies I was into Bolan and Bowie - that was what got me into music in the first place. I don't think I was ever part of any movement. I was always swimming against the tide, working with bands like The Fall, The Icicle Works and the Red Guitars.*
Tilt is also more a collaborative effort with songwriting contributions from long-time associate Terry Hall, Stephen 'Babybird' Jones, Mike Pickering (M People) and Mark (Fixed Stars) Cullen all contributing lyrics
*I've always collaborated lyrically,* he explains. *Musically I do it all myself. The only thing I did differently here was I gave one track to Tim Simenon. I was happy with the song but not with the sound so I said 'why don't you take it and see what you can do with it?'*
Even following the success of the Lightning Seeds, Broudie has continued to work with other bands, albeit sporadically. He produced Trains, Boats and Planes - the debut album by The Frank And Walters - as well as debuts from both Dodgy and Sleeper. He also co-produced Alison Moyet's Essex album and continues to work with former Specials and Fun Boy Three frontman Terry Hall. Is this something he'll continue to do in the future?
*I'm not up to producing at the moment. I could if I wanted to, but I love being in a band and that's what I want to do There is a Peter Pan element to being in a band at over 40 but I've got a different perspective on it now. I enjoy it much more and I love playing live. I'm very proud of this album. I think it's the best thing we've done.*
* Tilt is out now on Epic Records. Lightning Seeds play The Red Box, Dublin on Friday 26th November.