In a time where Coldplay is putting out the most boring music of its career, a group like Longfellow is a welcome and familiar thing to hear. The group hails from London, and already it has begun picking up accolades from British outlets. On BBC Radio 6 Music, Steve Lamacq hailed Longfellow as “The New Coldplay”. Support has also been given by Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2. Echoes of the early ’00s, piano-centric British rock can be heard in Longfellow’s music, but the emotional earnestness and memorable chorus of “Polaroid” are strong enough that both the band and this track stand on their own.
Longfellow says to PopMatters about the video, “‘Polaroid’ is written about living in the past, about being transfixed with previous relationships or occurrences and allowing them to overshadow the present. As a band we’ve all missed opportunities by refusing to let go of someone or something close to us and ‘Polaroid’ is a reflection of that. It seems like we’re not alone in this sentiment as ‘Polaroid’ is proving a strong favourite on the record and in the live show. When it came to making the video we wanted to play on the song’s meaning quite literally, so thought up the hammer horror scenario of a girl unable to cope with the guilt of her ex-boyfriend’s murder. We shot it with our photographer Andy Wilsher at locations between our base in London and our hometown Warwick, it was quite a spontaneous process and much more hands on than some of our previous shoots using a large crew.”
“Polaroid” is the opening track off of Longfellow’s latest recording, Prelude, released in July of this year via Ooh La La Recordings.
You can hear Longfellow perform at CMJ at either of the dates below:
Tuesday, October 21st (8PM)
CMJ Music is GREAT Showcase (British Consulate)
Rough Trade (Brooklyn)
Williamsburg
Featuring: Longfellow, The Crookes, MONEY, and Spring King
Friday October, 24th @ 11PM
Official CMJ Showcase
Coco 66 (Brooklyn)
Greenpoint Avenue
Featuring: Longfellow, Pinact, Baby Guru, Blonde Elvis