MARTIN WILLIAMS speaks to a rising pop four-piece about talent, tantrums and their appearance on a groundbreaking TV show. ENVY & Other Sins play guitars (and keyboards and drums), but not in the way that has come to define British guitar-pop in the last year or two. The band will turn up at Wrexham’s Central Station on April 19, having delighted audiences in winning the hit Channel 4 show, Mobile Act Unsigned. Ali Forbes (vocals), Jarvey Moss (keyboards), bassist Mark Lees (bass) and Jim Macaulay (drums) do just what it says on the unique Envy tin: proffer Englishly thoughtful, singular lyrics wrapped in succulent three-minute melodies. Their musical references are Roxy Music and The Kinks, their visual guideposts Art Nouveau and Charlie Chaplin, and what they strive for is an experience that “takes you out of the everyday” and into a world of “faded glamour” – in other words, a life less ordinary. “A lot of what we do is influenced by old films, and I’m obsessed with Art Nouveau. We want to have that feeling of faded glamour,” says Mark. Visually, adds Ali, they’re into “anything from the ’40s backwards”. In practice, their stage props range from Victorian headwear to hat stands, standard lamps and an antique “drinks globe.” Jarvey hastens to qualify this: “We may be eccentric, but it’s not a pastiche. It’s important to us that it doesn’t look like we’re in costume.” Envy quickly became men-about-Birmingham, sharing festival stages with the Super Furry Animals, Hard-Fi and Razorlight. They self-released a single called Prodigal Son which received props from the NME and The Fly, and began to put together an album. Then, on a whim – this was mid-2007 – they signed up to compete in Mobile Act Unsigned, which offered as first prize a contract with A&M Records. They were up against 1,600 other bands. They won. “The TV show has given us the opportunity to make an album, and we’ll stand or fall by it,” says Jarvey. Before Mark adds: “I’m impatient with indier-than-thou attitude that pop is a dirty word. We’re a pop band. Some pop bands are self-consciously ironic, Guilty Pleasures kind of bands, but we’re serious.” The album, We Leave At Dawn, has been produced by Danton Supple, who oversaw most of Coldplay’s X & Y, and as a guitar-pop debut, it punches above its weight. The breathless, dance along first single, Highness, serves as both an introduction to the band and a statement of intent – it’s about deciding that “this pauper’s life is not for me”, and aspiring to greater things. Whatever happens to Envy & Other Sins, they’re confident they’re going to make their mark. For tickets to the Central Station gig visit www.seetickets.com | 
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