Teleman ‘Breakfast’
Teleman – ‘Tele’, from the Greek for ‘distance’ – are a band you’re invited to, not inundated with. Their sparse, welcoming minimalist synth tones, gentle motorik beats and balloon-light melodies seeped quietly onto the radio last year and hypnotized the alt-pop nation. Their festival sets of 2013 (including Glastonbury and Latitude) drew an attentive, fascinated fanbase who already knew the words to unreleased songs. And their lyrics – stream-of-consciousness character tales and dream imagery – vividly invite your own interpretation.
With two stunning singles under their belt, London’s Teleman are pleased to announce full details of their debut album ‘Breakfast’. Produced by Bernard Butler, ‘Breakfast’ will be released on May 26th through Moshi Moshi Records.
From the pared-back ‘Cristina’, to the modernist proposition of ‘Steam Train Girl’ (both former singles which clocked up plays across Radio 1 and earned themselves Playlist spots on BBC 6Music and Xfm) and new track ‘Lady Low’, variety abounds on ‘Breakfast’. Elsewhere is the sweeping psych pop of ’23 Floors Up’ – a song of high-rise hotel passions and paranoia – and the startling ‘Mainline’, a warped, electro-fied chain-gang blues full of visions of burning seas, secret gangs and luminous lovers. ‘‘It’s like visions from a dream in places,” singer Thomas Sanders explains. ”I love really strong images. You hear a lyric and as soon as the lyric is said you see it in front of you.”
”A lot of the lyrics are based on personal experience, but a lot of it, is story-telling and a lot of it is fiction,” says Thomas. ”I really like double-meaning or other interpretations. I’m purposefully ambiguous. Sometimes you write a song and you don’t think about the lyrics again for years until someone asks you what it’s about. I love listening to other people’s interpretations’. If that’s what they’ve understood then that is a meaning in itself. In the same way as if you look at a painting and you see something, you’ve definitely seen it, it’s definitely real for you.”
As is fitting for the most understated yet enthralling new band in the country, Teleman came together almost by osmosis. Thomas, his keyboardist brother Jonny and bassist Pete Cattermoul found themselves adrift in London when the two guitarists left their previous band, but weren’t ready to stop playing music together. As a three-piece working with a drum machine, they found far more space and freedom in the music they could make. ”It was quite liberating, because smaller numbers have quite an interesting dynamic to them,” says Pete. Playing a few shows live with a drum machine made them feel ”tied down”, however, until one key gig at the Old Blue Last introduced them to the support act’s drummer Hiro Amamiya (”we poached him in an amicable way”).
Having brought last year to a close by touring with Suede, the quartet will support Franz Ferdinand, Metronomy and Maximo Park at upcoming shows this Spring before they head out on their own headline tour. They are also confirmed for a string of festivals including Field Day, Green Man and Secret Garden Party.
Tracklisting: 1. Cristina, 2. In Your Fur, 3. Steam Train Girl, 4. 23 Floors Up, 5. Monday Morning, 6. Skeleton Dance, 7. Mainline, 8. Lady Low, 9. Redhead Saturday, 10. Travel Song
Upcoming live shows
3rd May – Live At Leeds
9th May – London Calling, Amsterdam
11th May – King Tut’s, Glasgow
13th May – Deaf Institute, Manchester
14th May – Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
15th May – Sub89, Reading
16th May – Fleece, Bristol
17th May – Lennons, Southampton
18th May – Portland Arms, Cambridge
20th May – Islington Assembly Hall, London
21st May – Bodega, Nottingham
22nd May – Sticky Mikes Frog bar, Brighton NB Venue upgrade
23rd May – Esquires, Bedford
7th June – Field Day, London
14th August, Green Man Festival, Powys
