Fatherson: Under the Influence

Ahead of releasing their third studio album, Sum of All Our Parts, via Easy Life Records on 14 September, Fatherson, who formed in 2010 in Kilmarnock, talk us through some of the albums that have helped inspire their new record. Check out the playlist at the foot of the feature, too.

Manchester Orchestra – I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child
[Canvasback Music, 2006]
Manchester Orchestra are probably one of our collective favourite bands and this record sums up a lot of what is so great about this band. They are definitely a rock band but there is so much depth and variety throughout their albums. That is something we’ve always put a lot of importance on when writing music. It was hard to decide on which record to choose but this was the one that turned me on to the band and I still love it over ten years later. [Marc Strain]

Pinegrove – Cardinal
[Run for Cover Records, 2016]
This record was recommended to us by a friend and we all immediately fell in love with it. There’s a rawness in each track that really gets under your skin, you can totally imagine that it was recorded live in a room with each take being slightly different from the last. This album is partly the reason we recorded our new record totally live. [Greg Walkinshaw]

Snow Patrol – Final Straw
[Polydor Records, 2003]
Final Straw is one of those records that you would know every song from it even if you had never listened to the album. Songs like How to Be Dead and Spitting Games perfectly straddle creative and interesting songwriting whilst still being massive hits. I would urge everyone to listen to this album again and see how well the songs stand up against other indie albums that were released around the same time. [GW]

Death Cab for Cutie – Plans
[Atlantic Records, 2005]
Death Cab are such a special band to all of us so it makes sense that two of their records make this list. Plans is a record that we all came back to when writing our new album and fell in love with all over again. The production on this album is beautifully understated yet still really interesting, I find myself getting lost in the songs almost every time I put it on. Special mention to Brothers on a Hotel Bed for being possibly the most beautiful piece of music ever. [GW]

Ludovico Einaudi – Una Mattina
[Decca, 2004]
We first came across Ludovico Einaudi when we watched This is England and instantly fell in love with his music. Una Mattina was the album we connected with the most as a group and were inspired by the simplicity of his arrangements and the way his piano sounds on this record. We referenced this and the second Bon Iver album when we were recording a track called Reflection on Sum of All Your Parts. It’s been my go-to instrumental album for about five years now and I hear something new in it every time I go back. [Ross Leighton]

Bon Iver – 22, A Million
[Jagjaguwar, 2016]
This is a masterpiece in writing music. Ever since For Emma, Forever Ago we have been big fans of Bon Iver and Justin Vernon's other bands because of his ability to remain innovative and consistent through everything he has done. Musically, the exploration of synths and sampling alongside vocal effects were super inspiring. It was certainly the album that made me think we could do stuff like that with our music, without it sounding super try-hard. [RL]

Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi
[Atlantic Records, 2015]
We’ve been big Death Cab fans for years and they are a big influence on us, hence their multiple entries on this list. In my opinion, this is one of their best albums and I had it on constantly whilst we were writing the album. To be on album eight and still producing interesting and compelling guitar music is testament to a great band and a place that I hope our band can reach. [MS]

Frank Ocean – Blonde
[Boys Don't Cry, 2016]
This album changed my life. I’ve never got lost in anything like this before. I think I listened to it every day for a year and I still don’t understand what’s going on with it and I still think it’s incredible. Production-wise it’s super forward thinking and composed with incredible melodies and subject matter, and the annoying thing is that he makes it sound easy! He makes music the way he wants to and doesn’t seem to care what other people think – that’s about the most freeing thing I guess you can do and that was cool to see someone not getting caught up in the minefield of releasing music these days. [RL]

Idlewild – 100 Broken Windows
[Food Records, 2000]
Our first show as Fatherson was supporting Idlewild on the 100 Broken Windows anniversary tour. For that reason, this record holds a very special place with all of us. It was the first time we had really travelled around the country playing music in big venues and was a great jumping off point for our band. As a band we grew up listening to, Idlewild have been a big influence to us from the beginning. [MS]

Radiohead – The Bends
[Parlophone / Capitol, 1995]
In my opinion, this is one of the coolest guitar albums ever made. Sonically and structurally, it really had a massive influence on The Sum of All Our Parts. Trying to emulate Radiohead’s guitar tones is like trying to repaint a Van Gogh, but every guitar part on The Bends sounds unique and angular – which we tried to replicate in a couple of instrumental sections on our new album. The guitars on My Iron Lung and on Fake Plastic Trees, in particular, helped us judge how The Rain and Oh Yes would sound. [RL]

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The Sum of All Our Parts is released on 14 Sep via Easy Life Records; Fatherson play Barrowlands, Glasgow, 2 Nov