By Patrick Luce Jan 5, 2009, 17:31 GMT
London-based Razorlight has been catching British fans’ attention for more than four years and are now looking to start a fire in the U.S. with the release of their third album ‘Slipway Fires’ in March as part of the Mercury Records roster. The band will also be hitting the road for a stateside U.S. tour to support the album.
Razorlight hits the U.S. in March with ‘Slipway Fires’ and tour.
The band, which is fronted by lead singer/guitarist Johnny Borrell, has already found success for the album in the UK with the first single “Wire To Wire” reaching Top 5 on the UK national chart. The album was released in the UK in November on Universal’s Vertigo label.
The band has posted one minute excerpts of five of the album’s tracks on the Razorlight MySpace page – which has logged more than 4.3 million total plays. From a press release:
Since their formation in 2002 – and the UK release of their debut album in the summer 2004, Up All Night, on the Universal International imprint, Razorlight have become one of the biggest UK bands, selling over 3 million albums.
Discovered in the clubs, they soon found themselves playing large scale venues around the UK and Europe as guests of such headliners as U2, The Who, Queen (with Paul Rodgers), Oasis, Richard Ashcroft, and the Rolling Stones.
Their reputation as an amazing live band soon had them playing arena tours and headlining festivals, including the main band slot at Reading Festival 2007 alongside on successive days The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Smashing Pumpkins.
At the same time, Johnny Borrell has become the subject of increasing media scrutiny in England. In 2007, he graced the cover of British GQ’s 10th Annual Men of The Year issue, alongside Lewis Hamilton, Orlando Bloom, Sir Michael Caine and Gordon Ramsay and appeared on the cover of British Vogue, one of the few male stars to have done so.
The band were also regulars on the cover of the NME and have twice been featured as the cover artist for Q Magazine.
Razorlight – songwriter/lead singer and guitarist Johnny Borrell, guitarist/vocalist Björn Ågren, bassist Carl Dalemo, and drummer Andy Burrows – made a first impression on American audiences in 2004, with a well-received premiere at South By Southwest (SXSW).
Two years later in the summer 2006, their self-titled album Razorlight rose to #3 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. The album spun off three hit singles on the Continent: “In The Morning” (#3 UK), “Before I Fall To Pieces” (Top 20), and “America,” which went to #1 in the physical and digital marketplace.
The following year (2007) closed out with two nominations for Razorlight at the annual BRIT Awards, for Best British Band and Best Song (“America”). The pace continued at the annual NME Awards, with Razorlight receiving nominations for Best Band and Best Album (Razorlight). Q Magazine described the band's new album as "a triumph".
Tour Dates:
Feb 3 Los Angeles, CA TroubadourFeb 7 Mexico City Salon 21Feb 10 New York, NY The Fillmore
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