Los Campesinos! Take a 'Leap' on New Album

When indie-pop outfit Los Campesinos! played a record release show at London's Rough Trade East store on Jan. 31 in support of new album 'Romance is Boring,' one song was noticeably absent from their set list. For the first time in recent memory, the band did not play 'You! Me! Dancing!,' the joyful anthem that helped break the band in 2007.

The group was a little nervous about the removal but the fallout wasn't as severe as expected. "People didn't seem to mind. At least, no one complained to me about it!" Harriet Campesinos, who plays violins and keyboard in the seven-piece band, tells Spinner. "We're quite lucky with how open our fan base is to our experimental side."

The decision reflects the band's changing aesthetic on 'Romance,' which debuted at No. 28 on the Top Independent Albums chart. After forming in 2006, the Welsh band has tirelessly toured and released two full-lengths and two EPs worth of spastic pop material.

For 'Romance,' the band recorded in Stamford, Conn. and Seattle in early 2009 before mixing and polishing the record in their native Wales. The disc moves away from the sunnier twee-pop of 2008's 'Hold on Now, Youngster ...' and goes for a spunkier sound, with noise-driven bands like No Age and Times New Viking influencing tracks like 'Who Fell Asleep' and 'Plan A.'

"Musically, we wanted to expand as much as possible and try out everything we've learned over the last three years," Harriet says. "We just hope that everyone else has accepted the leap that we changed a little bit."

Not surprisingly, Los Campesinos! is already conceptualizing a new album, with lead singer-songwriter Tom Campesinos working on rough drafts of songs. A European tour will kick off Feb. 11 in Wrexham before the band heads to North America in late April.

Aside from the live dates, the band's labels, London-based Wichita Records and North American imprint Arts & Crafts, do not plan to push the new record with any promotional gimmicks, which is fine with the group.

"We've had a really great connection with our labels. They've never tried to push us in a direction we didn't want to go," says Harriet. "It's always been about longevity, and hopefully we'll be doing exactly what we're doing in five years."