BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC RECOMMENDS – ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2015
“How soulful is this!” Elton John
“It is epic, epic… The next level” Huey Morgan, BBC Radio 6 Music
“The Milk aren’t just retro-leaning upstarts recreating the music of their iconic influences; instead, they sound like a band that’s just finding their groove” The Line Of Best Fit
“An atmospheric return” Clash Music
“Between the latest incarnation of Arctic Monkeys and a soulful Paolo Nutini” Gigwise
“45 fantastic minutes without a single mediocre song “Favourite Worry” is already a classic.” hhv-mag.com
Sometimes it takes a few bumps to find the right direction; often it involves experience, guts and self-belief to trust yourself and venture from one to find another. The Milk are a band that believe with utter conviction that they’ve now found their way.
“Our second record, like many others before us, has been a life affirming but at times painful experience. For all the good we did on our first record, we felt that there we’re many unanswered questions. It was important that this album put the record straight, not just for our fans and peers but for ourselves.”
– Dan Legresley
Symphonic Swagger
Fuelled by a rediscovery of the music and artists that originally inspired their formation, the four walls of their studio were ablaze with a soundtrack of Bill Withers, Isaac Hayes and the Isley Brothers throughout the songwriting process for their new album.
From the swagger of symphonic opener ‘Wanderlust’ to heartfelt ballad ‘Lose That Way’ to the thunderous blues of the closing title track; The Milk’s confidence in these songs and their execution is clearly audible. Captured in a tireless outburst of creativity at the end of 2014, ‘Favourite Worry’ is The Milk at their soulful, honest and engaging best.
Blood Harmonies
“‘Favourite Worry’ is born from the difficulties that everyone feels as they move through life, the dreams that falter, the friendships that struggle or the love that falls away. Each song is born from this very personal atonement that each of us has had to reconcile ourselves with. It was vital that the record demonstrate the many years we have played together, the blood harmonies and sibling rhythm section. Just as importantly the need for the sound to reach deep into the guts of the listener, as so many of our influences do, was always at the forefront.”
– Dan Legresley
Eager to share their new songs, ‘Deliver Me’ was released as a limited 7″ single in November 2014 – finding its way onto the playlists of BBC 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne, Huey Morgan and Gilles Peterson – while The Milk’s dedicated fans packed out Tufnell Park’s The Dome for the band’s triumphant live return. The band unveiled their new songs in full for the first time to an intimate sold out show at Hackney’s Oslo in July to coincide with the release of single ‘No Interruptions’, one of the first songs written for ‘Favourite Worry’.
“‘No Interruptions’ provided us with a tone, musical flavour and a lyrical yardstick to which all of the other tracks on the album had to have in common. The song is about defiance and retribution, emotions that were common in the studio at that time.”
– Rick Nunn
Honesty Of Soul
The Bees’ Paul Butler, who proved his production mastery with Michael Kiwanuka’s Mercury Prize nominated debut, invited the band to record at Chale Abbey, a medieval barn on the Isle of Wight. Guided by Butler, the sessions captured the genuine version of The Milk: the sounds and honesty of soul.
“There’s a lot to love about The Milk. Pretty much family they’ve been together so long, all have a focused passion on making the band work. They’re equal in what each bring to the team, they practice more than any band I’ve met. They know what they want now, which is source of the real magic. That quality in bands is becoming rarer, but they’ve got it now.”
– Paul Butler (Producer)
Reactions
“Well impressed! Wanderlust is excellent!” Simon Hodge, Producer, The Craig Charles Funk And Soul Show, BBC 6Music – United Kingdom
“Album of the year!” Pete Steel – Brum Radio – United Kingdom
“I’ve been waiting for this. Absolutely fantastic.” Nick Armitage – 22Tracks – United Kingdom
“Outrageously brilliant” Sam Allen – Stellar Inflight Radio – Australia
“Amazing piece of work. I knew it was going to be good from the tracks that have been coming out. but this is almost perfect wow! wow!. take a bow” Andrew Sharp – Stomp Radio – United Kingdom
“Awesome!” Francesco Adinolfi – Radio2 Rai, Manifesto Newspaper – Italy
“Absolutely OUTSTANDING” Ben Mynott – Chill Radio – United Kingdom
“Quality album. Love it.” Aly Gillani / DJ Gilla – First Word Records – United Kingdom
“Love the retro sound to this. Tracks like ‘Darling What’s Wrong’, ‘Deliver Me’, ‘Trouble Bring Me Down’ remind me of Muscle Shoals. Tasteful Southern Soul. Yes full support no problem. LOVE-BIG TIME.” Dr Bob Jones – www.mi-soul.com – United Kingdom
“Finally it’s here, one of the highlite albums of the year” Robert Lochmann aka DJ Jazzmadass – Radio X, Frankfurt – Germany
“Really Stunning! No bands can do something like this, these times we live! 5 Stars!” Christos Exarchopoulos – musica-re // black radio berlin // up’n’loud radio // Republic 100.3 Radio – Germany
“Love it! Great album!” Rustam Ospanoff – Radio Kazakhstan
“So excited to finally get my hands on this and it doesn’t disappoint. Love the work of Paul Butler who seems to have channeled every ounce of soul out of the band.” Tom Headfunk – Headfunk.info, Mondomix and Vectis Radio – United Kingdom
“Ace! Great talented voice performing excellent songs. “Don`t Give Up The Night” is a real stormer and one of my favorite songs in 2105. Will get more than one spin!” Oliver Korthals – Mojo Club / >Out of spectrum< @ www.byte.fm / >Freeform – The Mojo Radio Show< @ NDR FM 90.3 – Germany
“Like a fairy Godmother, that arrives perfectly, Definitely 1 or 2 tracks going out on Thursday evening.” Dan Wesker – Detektor FM – Germany
“Love the soulful turn that The Milk have taken with their sophomore release. There’s a definite maturity in the songwriting that shines through, and while it’s a little less raw than the first, it still packs a decent punch.” Luke MW – Wax & Stamp – United Kingdom
“Exciting release” Nicolas Ragonneau – Paris DJs – France
“Have been looking forward to this forever! Have been hammering all the releases on radio and at gigs. Unique sound that oozes passion and pain. Beautiful. Deliver me still my favourite.. well for this week anyway! Need this on vinyl.” David Kerslake ( Dj expression ) – Whats hot radio – United Kingdom
“Big album! Superb travel into Soul vibes.” Azaxx – Tru Thoughts – France
“Classic and modern soul from the boys in The Milk, a great album I’ve been looking forward to hearing for a while.” Nick Rayman – Barricade Radio – United Kingdom
“Lovely…definitely a multi-format album…everyone should be playing this!” David Bassin – FreeFall/KUSF – United States
“In the top 5% of what i’ve heard this year. i’ve already played a few of these as singles and loved them. looking forward to playing “wanderlust” “Loneliness Has Eyes” and more!” Jon Oliver – http://www.eastvillageradio.com + http://www.themainingredientradio.com – United States
“Cool retro album” Josef Sedlon – Radio 1 Prague – Czech Republic
“Really diggin the soulful sounds coming from The Milk! Looking forward to getting deep into this record and playing some tracks on the show.” Frank Foreal – The Expedition – Dash Radio dashradio.com – United States
“Fantastic. This is real quality in age of music pap. Big up Wah Wah” Russ Jones – Hackney Globe Trotter/ Soas Radio – United Kingdom
“A fantastic album, really impressive!” Sven Thomschke – ‘Dr.Best’ Radio Z 95.8 Nuernberg – Germany
“Killer” Savvas Chantzaridis – DJ Radio Producer – Greece
“Blown away by this second album by ‘The Milk’ such a broad selection of tracks from the band, loving the hit single ‘Don’t Give Up the Night’ and ‘Deliver Me’ but will be pushing all tracks on my show!!” Alan O’ Malley – Shoreditch Radio – United Kingdom
“The influences are clear … music for music lovers by music lovers” Dj Toon – Eastside Radio – Australia
“Wonderful JUST wonderful, quality shines brightest” Paul ‘ABBO’Abbott – www.stompradio.com United Kingdom
Huey Morgan, BBC Radio 6 Music
Cerys Matthews, BBC6 Music
Kevin Beadle, Solar Radio
Andy Sharp, No Pressure Radio
Nigel Williams, Jazz FM
Paul Sexton, BBC Radio 2
Steve Lamacq, BBC Radio 6 Music
Dr. Best, Radio z, 95.8 – Germany
Andreas Müller, Radio Eins RBB – Germany
Deutschlandfunk Radio – Germany
Campus Radio Paderborn – Germany
Stefan Wagner, Radio z, Musikverein – Germany
Dan Wesker, Detektor FM, Germany
Amazing Radio, United Kingdom
