London Grammar on second-album nerves and learning their limits

London Grammar guitarist Dan Rothman (left) says their new album "Felt like we were discovering something new". Photo / supplied

In September 2013, three game-changing debut albums were released. Lorde table-flipped pop music with Pure Heroine; Haim pulled 80s rock nostalgia back into the charts with Days Are Gone; but before either of those records, London Grammar released their debut album If You Wait - a sublimely intricate cocktail of trip-hop, electronica and pop that infiltrated Spotify playlists across the world, spawning an abundance of club remixes that kept the British trio's songs on high rotate well beyond the average album cycle.

Coincidentally, each artist has this year faced the task of beating the dreaded 'sophomore slump'; Lorde with Melodrama, Haim with Something to Tell You, and in June, London Grammar with Truth is a Beautiful Thing. The three-piece not only had legions of fans waiting with bated breath for their next move, but pressure from a label perspective to deliver on a debut that was as commercially successful as it was critically. Guitarist Dan Rothman (who formed London Grammar at university with singer Hannah Reid and keyboard/percussionist Dominic 'Dot' Major) says the three of them were well aware of that pressure - and he readily admits it was a tough process.

"It was f***ing difficult. We had such an expectation to live up to, in terms of the sales of the first album being so strong, and then obviously the expectation of a fan base that we knew was going to be there. I think that was something that we always worried about, maybe more than anything else - will our fans like this change in direction?

"It certainly felt like we were discovering something new and we were very experimental in terms of the instrumentation on the second album, and also the way we wrote the songs as well. It was very difficult to actually find the sound of the record - but in a way it took us that time the first time round. I don't suppose that the third one should be any different."

London Grammar guitarist Dan Rothman (left) and singer Hannah Reid at Manchester's Parklife Festival in June. Photo / Getty

Despite the four-year gap between albums, the move from If You Wait to Truth was a constant, continual process for London Grammar. The trio toured their debut right through to early 2015, at which point Reid wrote Truth's first single Rooting for You "in its most primordial form," says Rothman; they then worked on the album over two years up until March 2017.

The experimentation that Rothman refers to is evident throughout Truth is a Beautiful Thing. The melancholic sensibilities of their debut are back, but this time there's a newfound cinematic grandeur that lifts their songwriting to new heights. Songs such as Big Picture and Hell to the Liars build from flickering candles into explosive climaxes; layers of synths, guitars, vocal harmonies and percussion snowball into illuminating crescendos - a sound Rothman says was prompted by their live shows.

"That part of the album making process was actually quite organic. [Those songs] were a natural reaction from being on tour - we would do these elongated outros to some of the songs and we felt that we wanted to have that on some of the new music," he says.

"It definitely caused some level of debate between the three of us when we were doing it, because sometimes it felt like if you try and tack an ending onto a song it doesn't necessarily flow particularly well. With Hell to the Liars, it was even more climactic than it currently is and it was almost a bit over the top. We had to rein it in a bit because we were worried we were forcing it too much."

London Grammar are currently in the midst of a global tour, which has so far seen them play across North America and Europe. The trio were on the road shortly after Truth's release, and Rothman says there wasn't much time to reflect on the release of the record. Rather, they faced the more immediate and practical challenge of learning how to play the newer, more muscular material live.

"There are more layers of instrumentation, which means we've had to take it a step further with regards to the way we play certain parts. It becomes more convoluted in that sense and that's just got even more severe with this record.

"Hannah as a result has had to step in more - she's playing more piano on certain songs, which has been really positive. It's been a good process. I've been pleasantly surprised at how well [the new songs] have slotted into the set."

London Grammar: "It was very difficult to actually find the sound of the record". Photo / supplied

London Grammar's Spark Arena show will be their first ever in New Zealand, which Rothman says they're "incredibly excited" about. And with a set that mixes the sinewy new material with the lilting rhythms of their debut, Kiwi fans can expect to be hypnotised - and exhilarated.

LOWDOWN:
Who: London Grammar
What: New album Truth is a Beautiful Thing, first-ever New Zealand show
When: Saturday September 30
Where: Spark Arena

Ticketing information for London Grammar's show can be found here.