The tongue-in-cheek chillout duo return with their second album.

Bent released their debut album Programmed To Love in 2000, an eclectic mix of downbeat tempos, off-the-wall samples and electronic shenanigans. Now they’re back with the follow up, The Everlasting Blink. “We try our hardest to do music that’s upbeat and all the rest of it, but it always ends up being put on the chillout shelf,” says Simon Mills. “It’s quite diverse. It can be cheeky but it can be serious as well.”

Programmed To Love was a collection of EPs, but this time around they wanted to record a more cohesive album. “This time you think, people did actually like the first one because they bought it, so you’ve got to keep them in mind,” says Neil. “But with the first one you’re just thinking, oh my god we’ve got a record deal.”

“One of the things I love about that album is that it’s kind of naïve,” ponders Simon. “There’s an innocence about it, in a way. I think we’ve grown up. Neil’s now a dad, we’ve had a break and it kind of makes you see things differently.” They may have grown up, but their sense of humour which inspired tracks featuring Nana Mouskouri and videos starring Sir Patrick Moore is still alive and well. This time they’ve gone and sampled David Essex.

“We were just doing this tune,” says Simon, recovering from a fit of giggles. “One of us got out this David Essex record. It was just ridiculous. He even followed the chord changes. Neil said, ‘You can’t do that, you can’t sample David Essex.’ And I said, ‘We’re Bent, we can do what we want.’” Apparently, Essex likes the record and Bent would like him to do it live. “Although I can’t stand him,” shudders Neil.

So why did they own a David Essex record? “We used to go to this shop where you’d get 100 records for 20 quid,” explains Neil. “There’s just vinyl everywhere. And it’s all crap, all of it. That’s where we get most of the samples from. We thought if we’re going to sample something then we might as well make something terrible into something good, rather than sampling something good and making it into something terrible.”

So do they have a favourite crap record? “I see them as children in a way,” says Simon. “Because if it wasn’t for those records I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you. So as much as they’re shit and we had to spend 100 quid on buying a shelf for them, I’ve got this deep respect for all of them.” Indeed. Matt Walton 13 February 03

The single, Magic Love, released 17 February 02. The Everlasting Blink, released 03 March 02. Both on Sport Records.

useful link: www.bent-world.com