“This is to show the world what we have”: Hinds talk debut album ‘Leave Me Alone’

In the September issue of DIY (out Friday 11th August) Hinds invite us over to watch Taylor Swift videos and talk debut album ‘Leave Me Alone’.

Recording ‘Leave Me Alone’ was not without its challenges. Laden with guitars, newly-penned songs, and heaps of Hinds’ favourite travel staple, pasta, the band set off for the Spanish city of Cádiz - the unofficial Andalusian party capital - to record. They ended up sipping celebratory mojitos for a grand total of… well, never.

“We were so stressed, we saw nothing,” summarises a matter-of-fact Ana Garcia Perrote. “As we were there, we were learning,” expands the band’s Carlotta Cosials, “and in the last days, the songs we were mixing were so much better. It was not time enough. We’ve done everything in analogue, it was exhausting to try things, and if you don’t like them, try again, from zero.” The band rarely left Paco Loco studios, and spent a great deal of time napping on the sofas in between takes. “You sleep there, eat there, make dinner there, and you are talking in relation to the album all the time,” says Carlotta. “Completely mind-blowing.”

A Madrid-bound Hinds bundled out of the studio with a debut album twelve days later, and within minutes, they wanted to turn their train back around on the tracks. “The first time we relaxed was on the train coming back from Cádiz, and that moment we all listened to the album,” says Ana. “When it finished, we said - all of us - ‘We have to go back. This work is not done.’”

“We got the clue that we wanted on the train,” Carlotta adds, “the key.”

Hinds can’t wait to put their debut out, though they don’t reckon things will change drastically. “The thing is, we play as if we have an album out,” concludes Ana. “We play 11 songs every gig, like a real album, but the rest of the world doesn’t feel it. We can’t have everyone at the gigs. This is the middle point to show the world what we have, to trust us.”

Photo: Emma Swann. Hinds’ debut album ‘Leave Me Alone’ will be released in January 2016 via Mom + Pop / Lucky Number.

Read the full interview in the September 2015 issue of DIY, out 11th August. Pre-order a copy below.