The Charlatans

They have proven to be one of the true evergreen British rock bands of the last 20 years, having survived the ’90s Britpop era and lived to tell the tale. The tragedy came in the form of Jon Brookes, the band’s drummer and one of its original members, who passed away in August 2013 at the age of 44 after a battle with brain cancer. The triumph, subsequently, has come with The Charlatans persevering – just as much to honour the legacy of the band as to honour Brookes himself – and finishing work on last year’s album, Modern Nature. But what The Charlatans have gone through has only strengthened their foundations.

“Sometimes, your best songs are made under difficult circumstances,” says Martin Blunt, the band’s bassist and sole remaining original member. “Even with Jon passing, he was adamant this album had to be done. This sort of galvanised the direction of the album with all of us. The process and what was happening in the band gave us what is probably our most positive album … The thing about Modern Nature is that, for the time since [2001’s] Wonderland, we headed back to our studio in Cheshire. We shut the door, brought down the hatches, communicated and jammed. We went in with small ideas and they turned into big ideas.”

Modern Nature marked a significant comeback for The Charlatans – not just on account of overcoming adversity, but the fact its sales and reviews have been the best the group has had in over a decade. Audiences across the globe have welcomed the band rapturously at live shows as well.

“We started the Modern Nature tour last February in the UK,” says Blunt. “We went on to Japan and Europe, then the USA with a festival in Mexico City, [which was] a first. It felt exhilarating. The reaction and the connection with the new songs, along with the not-so-new songs, made every concert incredible. This was our first proper touring in five years.”

Blunt expresses his excitement for The Charlatans’ return to Australia in the coming months, where they will perform headline dates in key capital cities. “Talk about a long time coming!” he says. “It took us 15 years to get to Australia, and has been totally worth it. We first came over in 2010 with the Who We Touch album, and this will be only our third time over [there]. We’re very much looking forward to the shows.”

2015 marked some interesting milestones for The Charlatans – not only did they release Modern Nature, their 12th LP overall, in January, but they also celebrated the 25th anniversary of their acclaimed debut, Some Friendly. Although only Blunt and vocalist Tim Burgess remain from that era of the band, and the struggles around the album’s completion have been well-documented since, Blunt still looks back on the time fondly – particularly on account of hits like ‘Then’ and ‘The Only One I Know’, both of which are still included in setlists today.

“It was the debut album that made us,” he says. “We can still connect with most of the tracks. In fact, Mark [Collins, guitar] and Tony [Rogers, keyboards], who weren’t in the band at the time, when they heard Some Friendly back when it was first released, they actually went out and bought it!”