Sons and Daughters

"I feel like we're on the brink of something monumental"

As Glaswegian glamour-pusses Sons and Daughters prepare to unleash new album ‘This Gift’ in January, AU sits down with lead singer and all-round uber-vixen Adele Bethel to find out where they’ve been and why everyone’s favourite cult band may just be 2008’s biggest success story.

Two years ago, Scottish tunesmiths Sons And Daughters were the toast of the town. They were lauded by Morrissey, loved by Franz Ferdinand and the critics couldn’t get enough of their dark and salacious tales of lust and despair. In fact it looked like the four-piece were all set to take over from the likes of Blondie and become the achingly hip band you’ve always dreamed of. But it didn’t quite work out that way. In fact, once tour commitments for second record ‘The Repulsion Box’ finished last year, they seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth, leaving their loyal fans a bit confused as to what was happening. But good things come to those who wait as they old saying goes, and Sons And Daughters’ lead singer Adele Bethel assures us that 2008 will be their year.

“When I think about the next few months, I can only see great things on the horizon for us,” she boldly states. “Our new album [‘This Gift’] will be out in the shops and it really is the definitive Sons And Daughters record. We’re stepping up our game and we want to make sure it gets heard by as many people as possible. For whatever reason our previous albums haven’t clicked with people the way we hoped but I know for sure this one will.”

Before anyone reading switches off assuming Adele is falling into the rock ‘n’ roll cliché of talking up her new album, let’s remind ourselves of a few things. Throughout the band’s career, the singer has often dodged questions about her songs and often avoided interviews altogether preferring to let people make their own minds up. So when she tells AU that ‘This Gift’ is truly something special, we’re inclined to believe her.

“It’s a more considered album this time around,” she offers. “We got Bernard Butler in to produce it and he was a joy to work with. I was a big fan of the songs he did as McAlmont and Butler and to be honest as soon as Bernard came onboard he shook everything up for us. He’s not backwards in coming forwards with his opinions. I remember playing him the 30 songs we had written for the record and he would openly tell us if something was shite, which was a bit of a shock to our systems at first. We had spent so much time as this little insular gang and when you have someone new come in and tell you what they think it can be hard to take but we ended up getting on really well together and bonded over out mutual love of The Smiths.”

The Smiths play a huge part in the story of Sons And Daughters. Adele actually looks like she could be a character from one of Morrissey’s tawdry tales and her own songs practically drip with the same suffocating 1960s-style kitchen-sink drama of the much-loved Manchester band. So it comes as no surprise when she tells us that ‘The Queen Is Dead’ pretty much changed her life when she was 13.
“When I was younger I really didn’t know who I was or what I wanted to do with my life,” recalls Adele. “But when a friend of mine’s older sister gave me her copy of that record, well, that was it for me. I immediately thought to myself that I wanted to spend the next two years in my room only listening to Morrissey. Like a lot of people-I can safely say I wouldn’t be in a band without him.”

Much to the singer’s surprise, it turned out that the Moz-Father was a fan of Sons And Daughters as well and he personally invited them on tour with him early last year. Needless to say it was a moment.

“Morrissey is an absolute gentleman,” she says of the much-maligned crooner. “As you might expect he’s quite a shy man but he was really welcoming to us and he’s surprisingly humble for someone who’s achieved so much. To find out that he liked our music was such a boost for us and really encouraging.”

Since their inception in 2001, Sons And Daughters were never shy about playing tribute to their influences though. Their band-name comes from a line in a Bob Dylan song and their breakthrough single was called ‘Johnny Cash’. But these days, Adele gets her inspiration from the silver screen instead of her stereo.

“I know it sounds a bit weird but films have inspired most of our new songs. It’s just gotten to the point where I’m surrounded by music every day and I watch movies to get a break from all of that. It’s the old 60s dramas that I love the best, like Billy Liar. There’s so much amazing imagery that can be interpreted into music. I also think I was a bit burned out by everything once we finished touring ‘The Repulsion Box’ so it’s good to have a bit of a break.”

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Issue #51 - I Told You This Would Be A Good Issue

Featuring Biffy Clyro, Of Montreal, Duke Special, Frightened Rabbit, Cold War Kids, Jay Reatard, Pat Mills, and more.