Northern Lights

In a modern world, Britrock survivors the Charlatans tell us they still believe in albums, studios, amps and moving air

- HENRY YATES

MARK COLLINS IS out of context.

Far from the smoke-blackened, rain-lashed skies of Manchester – the northern British city where he planted his flag in the late Eighties – we find the Charlatans guitarist looking out over paradise from the window of his Portugal home. “Sun's out,” he beams. “I'm not complaining.” While the reborn Oasis have swung the spotlight onto Manchester of late, things have moved a little slower for the city's other adopted sons. Technically, the Charlatans hail from the West Midlands, although Collins is a born-and-bred Mancunian, and the band’s loose-limbed grooves fit the brief.

“It's been a long time coming,” admits the 60-year-old of his new album, We Are Love. “It took us seven years, accidentally. We didn't plan it like that. We started talking about it in 2019. But then a pandemic got in the way.”

By happy accident, however, the timing of We Are Love couldn't be better. This 14th studio album has not only dropped into a world that’s suddenly sweet on Nineties-era jangle-crunch Britrock, but kicks against the socio-political backdrop with its love-thy-neighbor vibes.

“We're not trying to make political statements,” points out Collins, “but we don't agree with the rise of the right. That's in the feel of this record...”

In the age of the Spotify playlist, do you still believe in the album format?