6 Music - Music News

It's Frightening, the second album from New York export White Rabbits, was released in the UK earlier this week (Monday 25th January).

Fresh from playing with Delphic on Tuesday night (26), the six-piece played a 6 Music session for Lauren Laverne on Wednesday (27).

The follow-up to their 2007 debut Fort Nightly was produced by Britt Daniel of Spoon.

Vocalist Stephen Patterson said he helped them get over the ‘tricky second album’ syndrome: “He’s released a lot of classic rock records, at least in our eyes, so when he tells you, 'It’s good', you listen, and you believe him.”

As for how they came to work with Daniel, Patterson explained: “He was great. He was an old friend of ours. We’d known him from being on the road in the States. It was a very, very pleasant experience. We did it in a month, so it was also really fast. All round, it was a good time.”

"We are in the very early stages of the third record. We've got a few songs and a lot of bits and pieces."

Stephen Patterson

The group spent a year making their first album, but this time the frontman revealed they intended to capture a 'live' sound on the record, which was helped by less time spent in the studio.

“We didn’t want to allow ourselves the time to second guess and triple guess everything,” explained the singer. “We recorded it on tape, instead of digitally.

"I think that added to the experience, because there’s a limited amount of tracks you can use on tape. It helped us to control our urges to add a million things on top of the song."

Next album?

As for a third album, White Rabbits haven't got it in the bank just yet, despite the fact the second record has been out in the US for a year.

“We’re trying, we’re trying,” admitted Patterson. “It’s hard to write on the road, when there are so many of us and it’s hard to spread out with our guitars, and sing. Every time we’re home for a week or more we try to get some stuff done.

“I would say we are in the very early stages of the third record. We’ve got a few songs and a lot of bits and pieces, waiting to be put together somehow.”

They've already got support slots for The Walkmen and Fiery Furnaces behind them and you can see them at The Lexington in London on Thursday 28th, or in February, when they return for tour dates in Glasgow, Manchester and London with Spoon.