"It's true - unfortunately," he says, grinning. "Initially, I'd started out working with some of the people from Gomez on a side project that came to nothing. I felt a bit disillusioned after that, and so I joined the house band on a cruise ship around the Mediterranean. We'd play waltzes and foxtrots for the elderly passengers for months on end. And from there, I joined a Danish circus. While I played, dogs did handstands." As back-stories go, theirs is more interesting than Coldplay's, right?
FROM SUCH INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNINGS, then, Captain came together in and around Cambridge. Flynn, who writes songs the way he smokes cigarettes (compulsively) was furiously writing material, and one of his many demos landed them a major record label offer as early as December 2004. But the singer deemed the band not quite ready. He'd shot his load, as it were, with The Junket once before; this time, he was going to do things properly.
"I knew exactly what I wanted with Captain," he says. "I wanted male/female singers, I wanted drama, I wanted it all to be just right. And, with a little effort, that's precisely what I got."
A buzz built gradually from there, and after an incendiary performance at last year's In The City conference, Captain were sought-after by every A&R in the capital. They signed to EMI and, shortly afterwards, Steve Lamacq playlisted a succession of their demos. And then, in the winter, they entered the studio to record their debut album with, of all people, Trevor Horn.
"Well, we don't sound like anybody else," says Flynn, "and we don't particularly want to. We tried to think who would be the most unlikely, but brilliant, producer we could possibly work with, and that's how we came up with Trevor."
Drummer Reu, who is a big fan of all things 1980s and, bless him, Nik Kershaw, considers Horn, "a living legend. He's brought the most fantastic things out of us. The album is sounding amazing."
It is indeed. ‘This is Hazelville’ is a great big canvas heavily daubed in sonic drama, some heavenly harmonies, and a gleeful refusal to follow your usual verse/chorus/verse song structure. Former single Frontline is a beautifully constructed romantic pop anthem, Kennedy an unusually vibrant song about leukaemia, while East West details relationship indiscretion with both pinpoint accuracy and a Wurlitzer-like melody.
Protection - we do a lot of it these days. Sun cream for our skin, sunglasses for our eyes, condoms for you know where - but do you remember to protect your hearing?
Click to find all the information you need to look after your hearing now so you can enjoy music for years to come
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