“We just want to make music”: Modern English discuss new album and ‘I Melt With You’
Despite the constant shifting of the zeitgeist, some bands are undeterred in charting their course and continue to find success in doing so. One outfit that has perennially been masters of their own destiny is Modern English, whose work encompasses a scope that stretches far outside of ‘I Melt with You’, the global new wave hit that made them a household name in 1982.
In February this year, the quintet released their ninth studio album, 1 2 3 4, to critical acclaim. A blend of diverse musical styles, from gothic post-punk harking back to their early years to straight-up rock and even a touch of heady doo-wop, it’s a masterful example of a group drawing from across their gamut of influences to craft something that’s undeniably their own. It is political, blackly comic, and candid in different moments, making for a full-bodied listen that has you returning for more and seeking to explore the total assortment on offer fully. A culmination of a career spent plucking from whichever genres and sensations they see fit; it could not be clearer that a band with so much history still has much to give.
I connected with frontman Robbie Grey on Zoom to discuss 1 2 3 4 and all things Modern English. He was calling from his hotel room in Germany as the band were out on the road, spreading the gospel of their eclectic back catalogue and new record. This run culminated with a show on April 27th at London’s Dingwalls, supporting punk legends Buzzcocks before wrapping up in Paris with their own show. Furthermore, with their first trip to Australia and New Zealand also booked with Buzzcocks, as well as talk of China, which Grey jokes, “I don’t what the fuck that’s about, but we’ll take it,” it’s evident from the outset that the group are in a good moment.
Unsurprisingly, Grey was in great spirits about the new album and said it’s “resonating with people”, as they’ve found on the road. He explains that it’s been something of a different experience for the group, given that the record’s roots are in lockdown. Many of the songs were written during that strange period when the members would meet up at different times in bassist Michael Conroy’s Suffolk studio to abide by the regulations.
While Grey wrote the perenially infectious and sharp opener ‘Long in the Tooth’ on his own in his bedroom, the material the group conceived together mirrored it in being energetic in sound. They purposely wanted 1 2 3 4 to be “a lively album”, return to their roots, and affirm that they don’t “sound like a bunch of old men” – something they achieved, and then some.
‘Long in the Tooth’ is one of the highlights of the record, and I wondered if the group really see themselves as such or whether there’s more of a tongue-in-cheek element underpinning it. “When you get there, you’ll understand; it’s a different planet you get onto,” Grey, who turns 67 in July, advises me. He maintains that he and the band’s creativity and enthusiasm for their craft remain, but the body changes.
“So, there is some reality to the song ‘Long in the Tooth,'” he continues. “But, at the same time, there’s a bit of irony in there, and it’s very tongue-in-cheek as well. It’s a song about getting older, but also a little bit bolder. There is some comedy in there.”
I suggest the line “it’s taken a lifetime” typifies this, and we both laugh. The more you listen to the track, it becomes clear that it’s not a mission statement per se but more an affirmation of where the band are at, and, more crucially, it will continue to do whatever it pleases creatively.
‘I Melt with You’ was the topic earlier than I expected, with Grey first mentioning it. “We’re really lucky with that song,” he says, with it currently being used in Hershey’s advert in America. “They pay a lot of money for those sorts of things,” especially across the pond, “where there is still a lot of money”. The hit has been used across popular culture since its release, with it most famous for its inclusion in the 1983 Nicolas Cage rom-com Valley Girl.
According to the frontman, they wouldn’t have been able to do 1 2 3 4 without the song supplementing them economically. He states: “We’re able, on the back of that, to do pretty much what we like. We can tour and finance ourselves a lot of the time. We’re in a really lucky position in that way, and we know that.” It’s been with the band most of their lives, and apart from financing the new album, it’s allowed them to stay afloat in a more general manner.
To achieve the live feel the band were going for, with the help of their signature hit, they checked into what Grey dubs an authentic old-school studio in upstate New York with producer Mario McNulty, who worked with David Bowie. The frontman notes: “He did his apprenticeship at Philip Glass’ studio in New York, for god’s sake, so we’re talking about some serious stuff.”
Ironically, ‘I Melt with You’ was “just another song on After the Snow for us”. However, it distilled a period of significant change for the band, with influential post-punk producer Hugh Jones showing them the craft of songwriting, which Grey maintains they’d never really committed to prior. He compares their second album and their 1981 debut Mesh and Lace, which he describes as more akin to experimental work; the tracks were “stuck” together like movements in classical music.
Yet, Jones proved an instrumental force, supplying them with the beauty of verse-chorus-verse songwriting and settling their sound down. Grey says: “‘I Melt with You’ is the first time I’d never shouted into a microphone. He said, ‘Go and talk into it’, and I was like, ‘What?’ It’s got a real sort of spoken word feel to it; that might be part of its beauty.”
Outside of the song, Modern English’s sound has continued to resonate, with influential later bands such as Beach Fossils openly discussing how After the Snow was formative in establishing their distinctive sound. When appearing on Amoeba’s What’s in My Bag? in 2023, their vocalist Dustin Payseur offered insight into how the Essex group’s scope stretches far past the hit. He said Mesh and Lace might well be “the greatest post-punk album of all time.” That’s quite some praise for a band supposedly reliant on one track.
Grey is aware of the New Yorker’s praise. He tells me they recently posted on social media citing their early single, ‘Gathering Dust’, as one of their favourite numbers. He humbly expresses that it’s “really nice to hear” that people who craft “proper music” enjoy their wider oeuvre.
Do Grey and the band ever get sick of ‘I Melt with You’? “No,” he replies frankly. “We probably wouldn’t be making music now without that. We wouldn’t be financially able to afford it.” Affirming its status, they play the song every night, and invariably, the crowd goes wild. “If you don’t like that live, in a band, then something’s wrong with you.”
He knows precisely what I meant in a commercial sense, as some people attend shows just to hear the song, but in a display of the group’s ethos, “They get educated very fast by things like ‘Long in the Tooth’. They’re like, ‘Wow, what the fuck is this?’ That’s really good to see as a band.”
With songs such as ‘Plastic’, ‘Not Fake’, and ‘Not My Leader’, there is an unmistakably political edge to some of 1 2 3 4, with Grey, who spends half the year on a small island in Thailand, decrying ecological waste he’s viewed there in the former, and the charlatans posing as British political representatives in the latter duo. We did end up pursuing a rather bleak political tangent after I asked if there are parallels between now and when Modern English emerged, to which he asserts: “I don’t see parallels; I see things much, much worse than that.”
“It makes me really angry that nobody cares about the ordinary person anymore. They just don’t give a shit.” The frontman saliently posits: “I think we’re well past the time when we can do anything about it. It’s well gone. The world’s imploding around our very ears.”
Despite the world being past saving, Modern English will continue until the end. They’ve already written the next album, and presently, it doesn’t sound at all like 1 2 3 4, with Grey unsure of what final form it will assume. “We’ve always been a band that doesn’t want to stay doing the same thing. I will say it’s been our downfall, but that’s what it is; it’s who we are.”
He concludes. “We just want to make music.”