Slow going fourth

THESE days, outside pockets of hip-hop and pop production units, the Motown method of assembly line song-writing is not really the way most artists make music – far easier in the era of dwindling budgets and digital technology to do everything alone in your bedroom with a laptop.

Sheffield duo Slow Club, however, have kept tradition alive on their forthcoming fourth album. One Day All Of This Won't Matter Any More was recorded in Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia, with old school producer, label founder and musician, Matthew E White.

"We'd done some recording ourselves last summer and we were going to do the album on our own, but we felt we needed someone to whip us into shape," says Slow Club's Charles Watson. "We met Matthew last year and got on really well, and he had some time available in February. We thought it was the perfect way to do it."

Rebecca Taylor, the other half of Slow Club, explains how working with White and Spacebomb's four resident musicians was a joy to witness.

"We played our little demo recordings of the songs to the guys there, and they're just insanely good. They'd listen twice, make some notes and then go off into the studio and play it better than we ever could. We were in awe of them. It meant recording the album was very quick, which was both exciting to be around and great for me, as I'm extremely impatient. We'd start mid-morning to plan out each day, have a lovely lunch, record for a bit, have a couple of drinks and then we'd be done by 8pm, when I'd go to bed because I was so jet-lagged. It was a lovely way to live."

There are, of course, downsides to having such talented musicians on your team, but only when you're recording your album.

"Alan, the guitarist, is hands down the best player I have ever seen," says Watson. "It's actually intimidating to watch. But he's such a nice guy, too, it's impossible not to like him. He wanted to try a solo at the end of In Waves and even he was taken aback by how well it worked."

"I feel sorry for our bass player," says Taylor. "Some of the parts on this album are ridiculous. But we'll be fine, it's not like anyone we normally play with is hopeless, they're all really good."

"I don't normally sign and play complicated guitar parts," continues Watson, "but now I really have to practise and concentrate. I think it'll be a version of the album that we end up playing live."

As for White, his role in this is more director than traditional producer. Each time the band ran through a song, he would make an A4 page's worth of notes, feedback to Taylor, Watson and the musicians, and they'd go again. After a couple of hours, it was exactly as he wanted, and then it was just a question of pressing the record button.

Apparently it's similar to how he recorded his own albums, Big Inner and Fresh Blood, and Natalie Prass' 2015 self-titled debut.

All in all, it was a big learning curve for Slow Club, and a hugely enjoyable experience. Taylor and Watson have different writing styles – the chasm between those styles has got bigger since their 2009 debut, Yeah So – but White's production skills make a satisfying whole out of what could otherwise be an album of two halves.

"I don't know if we'd do an album like this again," says Taylor. "We like to move on and try different things, but this time it definitely worked and we wouldn't have an album ready if we hadn't done this. On our own, we'd still be working out what to do. I guess our aim was do some sort of Nick Cave Boatman's Call record. That hasn't really come to pass, but it was more a vibe we were aiming for than anything else."

The duo say they've grown more confident in their own abilities with each record, and believe that, even if things hadn't have gone so well at Spacebomb, they're experienced enough to have pulled things round.

"We weren't nervous about trying with Matthew at all," says Watson. "In any case, we couldn't have afforded to go out there, make an album, but not like it and then discard it. It's always tough, but if you've done the work beforehand, you always feel better about it and there's no reason there should be shocks along the way."

For now, they're rehearsing, trying to work their way around the other players' parts on their own songs, rehearsing, and getting ready for Green Man festival in west Wales, the first live show in what will be a packed end to 2016 with UK, Europe and US tours booked.

"By the time we've finished," says Watson, "we'll be the best UK-based Spacebomb covers band in the world."

• Slow Club release One Day All Of This Won't Matter Any More tomorrow