This time last year, London five-piece Chapter And Verse were part way through one of their busiest years to date. 2019 started with a cross country tour supporting Emarosa and the release of sophomore EP âGlowâ, as well as the addition of new full time member Kevin Miller on drums, and was swiftly followed by a solid year of festivals, headline shows, and a growing fanbase. The tail end of the year also saw the beginnings of a new era for Chapter And Verse, and it was with a rumble of excitement that 2020 crept in, full of plans and promise.
Thereâs beaming, warm sunshine outside when we sit down to chat with vocalist Josh Carter, and it could almost be a summer festival… Only this time weâre not outside, sitting at a picnic table cradling a beer on one of our favourite weekends of the year – instead, Carter is on the end of the phone as we sit indoors in our respective homes, cocooned from the pandemic filled world outside. This is the new normal â at least for now â that many artists have found themselves navigating, and just a few days before the release of new EP ‘Love & Error’, we caught up on all things pop, community, creativity, and the impact of lockdown life.
In this unusual and, frankly, slightly perplexing situation we find ourselves in, it feels like most of the last few weeks have consisted of nothing but cancellations and announcements of delayed album releases – but, with their third EP, Chapter and Verse have pressed on. âWe did consider it,â says Carter, when asked whether they considered joining the ranks of bands pushing back release dates. âCompletely moving it or something, but in the end we just decided to stick to our guns. At the end of the day, the people that are waiting and excited about it arenât going anywhere – we might not be able to see them face to face at a show, or get support for it that way, but the people that are anticipating it are still anticipating it whether weâre in lockdown or not.â
Itâs a move that makes sense. After all, not only have the band put huge effort into the build up to the EP with teasers, single releases, and a colourful new aesthetic over the last few months, but new music is providing a sanctuary for a nation stuck at home – âPeople still want to be entertained by music and listen at home, and we were looking forward to dropping it as much as other people areâ.
And realistically, ‘Love & Error’ couldnât be a more perfect collection of songs for a time when many of us are feeling low; the vibrant, hooky pop melodies exude joy and light throughout, but it still represents something of a new beginning for a band whose foundations were in heavier rock music. âWhen we first started out, when we released âThe Wolves Back Homeâ EP, most of us were listening to much heavier stuff,â Carter explains, âand weâve all loved pop music a lot⌠like, pop pop music! Itâs just kind of eked into our music taste more as timeâs gone on and thatâs ended up translating into the band a bit more.â
âWe donât want to lose the root of where Chapter and Verse started, we started as a much heavier band and I, personally when I was 16 years old loved hardcore and metal and all that kind of stuff, but as weâve got a bit older and kind of grown into ourselves as artists a bit more, our tastes have just turned towards more pop material so it ended up working its way into the stuff we record and write â and thatâs just the kind of band we want to be. We donât want to be a heavy rock band anymore, we want to write just good tunes!â
To a certain extent, a lot of that is down to the confidence that comes with age, not just as creators of music but also as fans â who didnât go through at least a brief phase where pop music was too deeply uncool to enjoy? The moments where you shuffle your feet and maybe, just maybe, admit to listening to something as a âguilty pleasureâ, as though music that makes you happy should ever be something to feel shame about.
âThat is definitely true!â Carter agrees. âWeâve all loved cheesy pop music for a long time, and not that weâre ever going to become a cheesy pop band, but itâs definitely a case of wanting it to be edgy in the early days⌠whereas now weâre less ashamed of that side of us and we donât really care so much about whatâs edgy, we just wanna write cool shit.â
And the reason so many of us have a hankering for pop music â secret or otherwise â is due in no small part to the way it makes us feel. Yes, it has its sad moments, but thereâs nothing else quite like pop to put a smile on your face and a dance in your feet, and thatâs something Carter feels too. âThat sense of joy and enjoyment is a huge thing, thatâs part of the reason I personally am into music in the first place. I donât want to just write miserable shit. Sometimes you do! Sometimes the time is right for something a bit grim, but not always. I want music to feel good.â