by William Bowe

"It's funny, this band is not the kind of band that had ever really had much hype," says newcomer bass player Stephanie Ashworth. "People have no idea. I certainly, when I joined the band, didn't have any ideas what the record first sold and when I found out it was like, God. And then, you know, we'd do the live shows around the courntry and we'd do places like Newcastle on a weeknight and they'd be completely packed. People don't know it because it's always been very understated and the label's been quite tasteful about it and as you say, radio haven't fallen over themselves. And I think it's been one of those little secrets." Something For Kate's loyal and generally pretty young following has been built on both their intensively expressive urban angst and a relentless schedule of all-ages gigs. In this respect they may not appear different from many of their Murmur labelmates, but the brooding, introverted tone within their music doesn't make them obvious candidates for crossover into the surfer/skateboarder market - which, as The Living End have proved, is where the real money is.
By succeding against the prevailing currents, they have indicated that enormous things might be expected from th forthcoming second album, Beautiful Sharks, particulary if the quality of the first single is anthing to go by. Electricity marks a new scale of achievement for the band on every level - the kinetic guitar work is fully striking enough to earn the song its title, the band's razor sharp performance drives the point home superbly and in particular, Dempsey's vocal range and depth of expression seem to have doubled since the first album.
"It's something I've just been saying to people is a major difference between the first album and this new one," say Ashworth of Dempsey's vocals. "I mean, I feel a little bit more objective because I wasn't in the band for the last album but his singing has just totally changed. His singing for Elsewhere was quite guttural and at times very throaty and quite raw sounding. But I think all of us, the engineer and the producer and the record company were just kind of struck back with the new album in that he is really singing and doing lots of really beautiful harmonies and he's not afraid to sing at all. It's not that kind of raw, throaty thing anymore.
"I think that he's becoming more confident and I also think that the musical climate at the moment is allowing people to be a lot more liberated with their approach to singing. With anything for Radiohead to Jeff Buckley to Blur, everything I think is allowing people to have more scope and feel less inhibited about what they're actually capable of. And I think he's just really let go on the new album, there's been no taboo areas. It's very different, there's guest male vocalist, I'm doing backing so there's female vocals on a Something For Kate for the first time. And there's no sort of areas that we haven't gone."
The band's obvious pride in their achievement will no doubt worsen the familiar frustrasion of sitting on a completed album while music industry machinations delay its release. Dempsey has been vocal in his dissatisfaction with the process in the past, as befits a man who has just completed his second full-length side project album in less than a year. With their record company's websites still unforthcoming as to when the happy day might be, the band's frustration likely to get worse befoer it gets better.
"I don't find it such a stress but I think Paul does because he's bery prolific. He's just done an entire acoustic album actually, just for his and the record company's own delight (laughs). It does seem like a long time between albums but when you're actually the one who's touring and writing and making the record and doing the artwork and all the other stuff that goes with it you do realise that it's set up like that for a reason, because it'd be kind of strange to realse two albums in one year."