Thrilled to death

White Lies frontman Harry McVeigh (centre) says it's a powerful experience to hear an audience sing along with you about death. Photo / Supplied

Death is a popular topic for the dark yet uplifting British band White Lies. For starters, their debut album, To Lose My Life ..., opens with a song simply entitled Death. But it's the darkly romantic title track that stands out most when singer Harry McVeigh entreats, "Lets grow old together, and die at the same time".

"People always think we're going to be introverted," laughs the 21-year-old, on the phone from his girlfriend's house in Covent Garden, London. "But we're actually pretty grounded happy people," he says.

And besides, the band has nothing to be depressed about because since To Lose My Life ... came out earlier this year they've been touring the world and riding high on the album's success.

"We're doing very well in our chosen jobs and career," he deadpans.

It's just that death and dying intrigue McVeigh and songwriter Charles Cave, who plays bass.

"No matter who you are, you'll experience some sort of loss or sadness in your life, but at the same time we like to celebrate that side of things and those emotions. It might be a kind of weird sadistic thing but we write very uplifting music that deals with those emotions. This is almost cheesy to say, but it's therapeutic to write songs like that."

White Lies play in New Zealand for the first time on Saturday at the Studio on K'Rd. McVeigh's been here before on holiday in 2003 to visit family and friends in Auckland and up north, as well as travelling to the South Island.

"I've been everywhere," he laughs.

The band's sound is similar to fellow Brits and post-punk revivalists Editors, or maudlin Americans, Interpol, and the comparison to post-punk greats Joy Division is also valid. Although, points out McVeigh, they were not even born when the Manchester band were around and were not brought up on their music.

The point of difference White Lies have compared to these bands is McVeigh's dynamic voice, which has both a dour tone and a high serenading quality.

Another comparison that springs to mind is with veteran British punks the Damned, when they were in their over-the-top gothic period.

"That's a very strange thing because our tour manager says that to us all the time," says McVeigh.

They started out as a dance-funk band called Fear of Flying in the West London suburb of Ealing during the mid 2000s when McVeigh, Cave and drummer Jack Lawrence-Brown were still at school. They changed their name to White Lies mid 2007 because they started writing songs that didn't suit their old band.

"Fear of Flying was very much a band we started when we were 15 or 16 years old and between the ages of 16 and 19 you grow up a lot and we grew up not just as people but in our music. We learned through that experience and time together how to write good songs and how to record and perform them well."

The turning point came when they wrote Unfinished Business, which McVeigh says they connected with much more than the songs they had written previously.

"It kind of made sense to scrap everything we'd done before and try and focus on writing songs like that. It wasn't a drastic change, it basically went from being a school project to something that we took seriously and spent a lot of time and effort getting right."

Now, audiences everywhere are singing songs like Unfinished Business, Death, and dramatic epic The Price Of Love back at them.

"To have a thousand people sing along with you about death is a very moving and powerful experience. Depending on what mood you are in you can get something different from our songs every time you listen to them and I think that's what's appealing for people."

And has life changed a lot in the past year?

"There is no way that it couldn't. But the main difference is we are extremely busy and we spend a lot of time away from home. So much so I don't even feel like I have a home anymore. When I go home I'm just visiting. In a good way. It's amazing to do what you have a huge passion for, with two of your best friends, for your life and your job.

"The common misconception with bands," he laughs, "is that it's all glamour, parties, getting pissed and having fun. But I didn't expect to have to work as hard as this."

LOWDOWN

Who: White Lies

What: Post-punk revival band from London

Where & when: The Studio, K' Rd, Saturday

Album: To Lose My Life ..., out now