Interview with Macroscopes: ‘Our next song – ‘Reveal’ – is about getting someone to be themselves’

Macroscope, an alternative six piece band from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, have three new songs on the way, the first of which – ‘Reveal’ – is likely to come out later this month.

The group consists of Luc Hyde (vocals/guitar/songwriter), Maxx Lancaster (sax), Seth Whitby (bass), Nathan Smith (drums), Finn 0’Beirne (piano) and Joel Harrison (synths).

‘They’re fully-recorded and ready to go,’ Hyde said. ”Reveal’ is a song that I wrote a couple of years ago about getting someone to be themselves. It’s going on a vinyl compilation for the Long Division Festival in Wakefield.’

With lyrics such as ‘I agree you’re alternative, just like me anyway, I can read you like a closed book, you wouldn’t believe how I could’, ‘Reveal’ ‘isn’t exactly upbeat’, according to Hyde. Another of the three songs, ‘WYZ’ is, much like the title suggests, about missing an X (ex). ‘Shimmer’, which will be released last is ‘slower, more melancholy’, he said: ‘It’s about being sad and alone, not feeling good enough. It’s more reflective, sad.’

That’s not to say that the band can’t see the humour in things. Their latest single – ‘My Favourite Cardigan’ – in which Hyde sings about loving someone ‘more than my favourite cardigan’ was released last week and was actually inspired by Hyde’s own favourite cardigan: ‘I was in Spain a couple of years ago with my dad and found this blue €8 cardigan. I haven’t put it down since! I wear it so much that it’s become part of my identity. I’ve spent a couple of hours in Barcelona since trying to get another one but it’s impossible to find!’

That song was something of a happy accident because Hyde had been trying to figure out some chords in a Lana Del Rey song. ‘I got them wrong but those wrong chords ended up starting ‘My Favourite Cardigan’ instead. This has happened to me a few times. The bridge in the first half to the chorus was written at a different time to the rest and I just put them together when I wasn’t sure what to do with the two parts!’

The original working title of ‘My Fucking Cardigan’ was softened as the tone of the song became clearer and the cardigan became an object of affection rather than frustration. Musically, the song sees the Americana guitar sound complemented by a piano track that hints at the emotional flux at play in the lyrics and is softly accented by the melancholic nature of the baritone sax.

Macroscope’s influences range from indie and punk through to acid jazz. Hyde is a big fan of Wolf Alice, who he says has really influenced his own writing style. ‘Johnny Marr (former guitarist for The Smiths as well as a former member of The Pretenders) has influenced my guitar playing a lot. A lot of my style comes from him. If I could collaborate with anyone, it would be really good to collaborate with him or Lana Del Rey. Or Chris Martin!’