News

The Shoes To Release Debut Album

• 19th Jan 2011

The Shoes aka Guillaume & Benjamin have been applying the finishing touches to what is simply a beautifully intricate and colourful debut. Filled with understated elegance and refined hooks, ‘Crack My Bones’ is a real lesson in how modern day indie-pop should be written.

The Shoes have made quite a name for themselves with their stunning live shows that consist of three drummers backing front men Guillaume & Benjamin. They deliver a performance and sound like no other; one can’t help but be transfixed. Having been on the road for well over a year and worked on a number of remixes/reworks for the likes of Ladyhawke, Late Of The Pier and Chapel Club, The Shoes knew it was time to finish their own debut album.

Guillaume & Benjamin grew up in the French town of Reims (45 mins outside Paris), they met at the age of 15 and immediately gelled, falling into a love-hate affair that’s seen many a twist and turn along the way. Needless to say, the relationship that was built on a love of music, girls and being too cool for école, is still going strong.

Having written the album, the duo called upon a number of friends and contemporary artists to join them on their journey. The likes of Gonzales, Esser, The Cock’n Bull Kid, Primary One and Wave Machines can all be found adding keys, vocals, percussion and love to the well-rounded long player.

Also The Shoes’ artwork and press pics are all shot by Gavin Watson (This Is England, Skins and Punks). Of the experience he says: “The Shoes keep popping up on my iPod and in the car, the tunes just get better and better on every listen. I had a great day in Brighton shooting them, we had a good laugh and got some great shots, they were fun to shoot!”

One can hear the influence of Hot Chip, LCD, and The Cure in the song writing, yet a love of Electro, House, Hip Hop and more traditional Guitar led Rock shines through in the production, it’s quite an emotional ride.

Their production skills have not gone unnoticed, they’ve recently produced tracks for Shakira’s new album that feature Dizzee Rascal and Pitbull, and French superstars Raphael (million album seller), Gaetan Roussel (platinum) and Julien Dore (platinum), whilst also having tracks synched on hit TV show Gossip Girl, the new Joel Schumacher film ‘Twelve’.

The Shoes will be playing live in the UK over the next month, you can catch them at the following shows:

25-Jan White Heat, Madam Jojo’s, London
27-Jan Komedia Brighton, Brighton
28-Jan Cabaret Voltaire, Edinbrugh
04-Feb Club NME, Koko, London

www.myspace.com/theshoesmusic