The Glasgow post-punk band Life Without Buildings released exactly one album, the 2001 underground classic Any Other City, and then promptly broke up forever. These days, bandleader Sue Tompkins is a visual artist, and she rarely does anything music-related anymore, but she's on the new Sleaford Mods single.
Nottingham duo Sleaford Mods, who recently squashed their beef with fellow ultra-British shouters IDLES, are getting ready to release a new album called The Demise Of Planet X. We've posted lead single "The Good Life," which features Gwendoline Christie and Big Special, and now they've shared "No Touch," their song with Sue Tompkins.
"No Touch" started with Tompkins and Sleaford Mods vocalist Jason Williamson sending voice notes back and forth, and it evolved into a bubbly, funky track. In a press release, Williamson says, "Sue came down to the studio in Bristol for two days to record with us. She had a cold at the time, but it added to the track,. She had all these little quirky one-liners we put at the start and end of the song. I wrote the chorus, but she expanded on that a little bit with some of her own lyrics, so she was an amazing collaborator. The song itself explores the murky exploits of drug use, the kind of exhibitionism that goes along with it."
Tompkins says, "When I was asked to record with Sleaford Mods, I just had a sort of immediate, big urge/surge to say yes! Just listening to what Jason sent me initially, the feeling there was some sort of sadness or longing or intimacy or regret, just very emotive to me. So I just responded in a way which hopefully emphasises that vulnerability."
The Fish Tank/American Honey auteur Andrea Arnold directed the "No Touch" video, filming it near her childhood home in Dartford. It's got the band and Sue Tompkins mugging around outside a very grey apartment building, and there's also a very cute dog who pisses on a tree. Watch it below.
The Demise Of Planet X is out 1/16 on Rough Trade.
