BREEZE: ‘From the very first lyrics that I sang – “I’ve got something to say now” – I thought of superheroes’

Hornsea trio BREEZE have released their single ‘Remains’ about getting through a break-up, with three new singles on the way.

Formed in 2021 in Hornsea, a Victorian seaside resort on the Yorkshire coast, the band comprises brothers Albert Anderson (vocals/guitar), Harry (bass) and Alfie (drums). Of their band name, Albert says: ‘Our dad always played in bands when he was younger with his brothers and his friends and said a band name that he always wanted to have was ‘Breeze’, and we thought we might as well use it!’

The band name has a nostalgic feel, which fits neatly with their latest single ‘Remains’, a shimmery, vintage-sounding track with a Beatlesey intro underpinned by a beautiful harpischord and all three brothers on backing vocals. ‘Originally, it didn’t have that harpiscord, it was just a normal piano,’ Albert said. ‘We were with Richard McNamara from Embrace, who produced it for us, messing around with some sounds and he said because we’re all massive Beatles fans (he points to a Beatles photo behind them), why didn’t we try to add a Beatles feel to it? He played a harpsichord and we thought it was perfect. I based the song around the four chords in the intro, it really just sort of wrote itself. I was playing it originally on guitar but I could hear when I was writing it that it needed a piano in it somewhere. When it came down recording the demo, I rigged up the piano and was just playing different bits – we all play piano, don’t we?,’ he said, looking at his brothers.

‘I like having songs that have always got that hint of hope in there’

Ultimately, Albert’s motivation was to write a song that people could easily relate to: ‘I think everybody goes through a breakup somewhere and usually it’s not the easiest thing and they’re quite messy sometimes,’ he said. ‘So ‘Remains’ is about still having hope after a breakup and not getting yourself down. I like having songs that have always got that hint of hope in there.’

Typically, Albert writes the lyrics and takes an early version of a track to his brothers. ‘I’m only a very basic guitarist. He’s the best guitarist, Alfie, even though he’s a drummer. Once we’ve got the basic structure, we go in the studio with Richard and come up with little bits here and there. We all have our input, don’t we?,’ he said to his brothers, who agree. ‘I might think we should add something in or take it out or adjust the length. Alfie, you’ll come up with drum fills and anything that needs to be there. And then you come up with guitar parts as well, don’t you?’ Alfie nods. ‘I think sometimes you try to find that balance between putting too much in or putting too little in. You want to find the perfect part for that song.’ Albert is laughing: ‘It’s soooo easy to add parts in, though!’ Alfie jumps in: ‘Yeah, you add it in and then you go: “Actually, it doesn’t sound right (laughs).” If you keep it in, it could be the slightest thing that you might not even hear as a listener but it fills it out.’

In addition to The Beatles, they take inspiration from Oasis, The Pixies, Kasabian and Muse, not to mention their dad, Richard. ‘Our dad was a singer and he played guitar as well. He’s got a twin brother who’s a lead guitarist,’ Albert said. ‘And their oldest brother was a drummer. He had a few friends, so there was a bass player and another guitarist in there as well.’

‘The demo had more of a Blondie feel to it, it wasn’t as dark and heavy’

‘Superheroes’, which they released as a single last December, is one of their catchiest tracks to date, with an insanely hooky riff and the kind of explosive energy destined to make it a crowd pleaser. If you play the guitar, it’s enough to make you go and grab it and play along and when I tell them that, they seem genuinely pleased. ‘That’s one that I wrote a while back,’ said Albert. ‘I came up with the chords first but I just hadn’t got around to doing anything with it. The demo was completely different to what actually came out in the studio, wasn’t it?,’ he said to his brothers. ‘The demo had more of a Blondie feel to it, it wasn’t as dark and heavy but in the studio, Rich said straight away that it could have a really dark sound to it, so we played around with dark, heavy guitars going into that clean, 90’s sound. The chords were very Radiohead-esque. Straight away from the very first lyrics that I sang – “I’ve got something to say now” – I thought of superheroes, I don’t know why, but it just had that comic book feel to it.’ I ask if he had any particular superheroes in mind. ‘Just concepts of superheroes in general. I think just the classics like Superman and Spider-Man, they’re like the main ones that come into your head.’

Albert is the oldest brother, who now works as an electrician, with Harry working as a structural engineer. Alfie, the youngest, is training to be a quantitative surveyor: ‘It sounds very, very fascinating, but it really isn’t,’ he quipped. ‘It’s just number crunching!’

Initially, they got into music via their dad: ‘He started out playing the guitar and we used to sing to him,’ said Harry. ‘We’ve all been quite musical. We’ve all learned the piano growing up and then Albert got to about 14 and I think he watched the Oasis documentary, ‘Supersonic’, which made him want to get into a band (laughs). He jumped on guitar and I just jumped on the bass. Alfie was originally a guitarist, there was five of us in the band back when we were doing covers. Obviously, as we got a bit older, we just chucked Alfie on drums!’ Alfie is laughing: ‘Yeah, they chucked me to the back – out of the way!’ Harry interjects: ‘He is the best drummer, that’s why he’s there. Even Richard McNamara, he’s impressed, isn’t he? He’ll chuck a drum beat at you and you can seem to play anybody.’ Alfie weighs in: ‘Yeah, he says for some reason, I’m talking drums. So that’s a new language in the studio, “talking in drums” (laughs). Someone who’s got small arms will do all right!’

‘Sometimes you listen to a record and think you just can’t capture that live feel’

Growing up, The Beatles were one of the main bands that made them want to have a go themselves: ‘Rubber Soul (1965), was quite a big Beatles album that Dad used to play in the car and Bee Gees, they were massive.’ Harry interjects: ‘Everything from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, bands like Ocean Colour Scene.’ Alfie adds Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Rolling Stones. I tell them that it sounds as if their parents have got an epic record collection: ‘They have, they have indeed, yeah!,’ said Albert. ‘Eric Clapton inspired me to play, especially ‘Layla’. And Mark Knopfler, he’s really good and very underrated as a guitarist.’ We get chatting about how some people sound even better live. ‘We’re a bit like that,’ Alfie said. ‘Sometimes you listen to a record and think you just can’t capture that live feel. Live is just so good, like Richard Ashcroft’s song ‘Break The Night With Colour’, I’d rather watch it live than the recording. Me and Albert went to go watch Oasis last year and he was supporting them. His live performance was mint!’

Next up will be three new songs, all of which have already been recorded: ‘I think they’re completely different to ‘Remains’, so I don’t think fans are going to expect what we’re going to bring out, really,’ Albert said. ‘I think this next one that’s coming out – we haven’t announced the titles yet – is very experimental with the structure. Not with the music, per se, but more the structure of the song. When you listen to it, you can’t predict where it’s going to go next, it doesn’t have a conventional structure. One of the other songs goes back to the ‘Remains’ ballad sound but it’s a lot darker, both sonically and in terms of the lyrics. The other one is more psychedelic, like if Arctic Monkeys delved into psychedelic! It’s got a mixture of vintage and experimental modern guitars in there as well. The darker one was inspired by Muse. I liked the lyrics that he was singing about in ‘Sing for Absolution’ (2003),and I liked the melody. It was almost like he was singing about someone dying, it’s got a very haunting melody that song.’

‘She’s Got It’, a beautiful vintage song that they released in 2023, turns out to have been written by their dad in the 90’s and seamlessly combines a 60’s sound with a big sprinkling of BritPop flavour: ‘He did a few versions of it but never released them,’ Albert said. ‘He’d recorded one version that he said went missing and he’s never found it. It got misplaced. He said it was the best version that he’s done, which is the worst, but he said it had that early Nirvana feel to it. It was much quicker than our version. He also did an acoustic version on his four track, which we still have now and we’ve listened to a few times. He ended up going in a studio when we were first born and recorded one properly for the very first time at a little studio over in Bridlington.’ Harry weighs in on the backstory to the song: ‘Dad said he wishes there was a story about it but it’s made up.!Like how Bob Seger did for the song ‘Still the Same’ – a great song and story but made up!’

‘Even though he’s the quiet Beatle, the songs he wrote in The Beatles are underrated’

Endearingly, they say that their dad is ‘massively proud’ of them and goes to every gig. I ask if he ever tried to recreate the Nirvana-like version for them. ‘Yeah, so he’s played it live to us, well, he sort of tried to. The speed of it and stuff like that and trying to describe exactly what it was like but he said it’s so hard to describe.’ I say that I really hope he finds that recording one day, down the back of an old chair or behind a bookcase somewhere and they agree. ‘It would be brilliant.’

If they could go out drinking with any musician dead or alive, Harry is quick to say John Lennon and Paul McCartney: ‘I would ask them: “How did you do it?” They are the best folk in the world, I think.’ Alfie weighs in: ‘I’ll go John Lennon and George Harrison,’ he said happily. ‘Even though he’s the quiet Beatle, the songs he wrote in The Beatles are underrated. He wrote the most beautiful melodies. I’ll just ask them: “What was it like to walk out your door and be swarmed by a lot of people?” You can’t really imagine it, can you? Like them going to America for the first time and playing in New York.’ Harry jumps in: ‘You can’t even hear them playing live, you know. You just hear the crowd!’ Albert adds David Bowie to what is turning into an epic night out: ‘I’d just say: “Tell me some stories that nobody knows, stories he never told the press, all the behind the scenes stories!’

They’ve had some hilarious moments along the way, as Albert recounts: ‘We played at this festival, Tribfest ( a big tribute band festival in Driffield in Yorkshire), on a little unsigned stage. It was ram-packed and we sort of forgot we were going onstage, we weren’t even together. Harry ended up playing a drinking game back at somebody’s tent with a random person (laughs). Alfie got drunk, I got drunk, I don’t even remember where (laughs). We all ended up going on stage absolutely hammered and had to play a full gig – it probably sounded terrible! Or maybe it didn’t sound terrible as everyone was bouncing and loving it?’ Alfie is laughing: ‘That’s ‘cos they were all drunk, too!’ Albert grins: ‘I genuinely don’t know how we got through that gig!’

(Top photo from left to right: Alfie, Albert and Harry. Photo credit: Lilly Anderson.)