The Lathums on 'Matter Does Not Define', Tour and their biggest inspirations

The Lathums, an English indie-rock band from Wigan, have just released their third studio album, "Matter Does Not Define", and started touring it across the UK and Europe. Tour-Stop number 8 is at the iconic O2 Academy in Brixton, London, where I get the chance to sit down with three-fourths of the band for a lovely chat. Vocalist/guitarist Alex Moore, drummer Ryan Durrans (called Duz), and bassist Matty Murphy tell me all about the creative process behind this album, their favorite musicians, and future plans.

Janne: Congrats on your new Album! Could you tell me the story behind the title ‘Matter Does Not Define’?

Alex: So the album title was originally the title of a song which is ‘Reflections Of Lessons Left’. That lyric kind of inspired me to write a lot of the songs for album three. And then it kind of just kept presenting itself (‘Matter Does Not Define’), and we just thought it was a quite striking thing to have as the first thing people read for the new album. I think it opens a lot of conversation.

Janne: How has the creative process with this album changed from the last two albums?

Alex: There was a lot more time. Album one and album two were just straight in - signed a deal, into the studio. And it was just a couple of weeks to record the album. This time with the third album, we had a lot of time, to demo and try things. We’ve got a little unit in Wigan called Shabbey Road - bit of a dungeon, to be honest. But we had loads of time to try loads of songs.

Duz: Yeah, so we did weeks and weeks of preparing in our unit in Wigan, just getting the tunes ready so that we can go in the studio and basically just play them straight away. You know, no messing about, no time wasted. And I'd say it helped massively, not only with being able to record it quickly - being the best we can be on the tunes, but even just the vibe going into the studio, being confident about it. Nice to have a bit more time to process the songs as well. Like Alex said, we normally just go straight in the studio and that's that. Whatever's done at the end of the few weeks, that's the album. But we had a bit more freedom and a bit more time on this one, which is a treat.

(The Lathums at their Shabbey Road unit back in January 2024 via Instagram)

Janne: How was the selection process with the record considering you had so many songs?

Alex: Picking songs for an album is probably one of the the hardest things to do. Obviously, you get attached to every one of them. And I mean, that list was just what we were doing at that time. But there's hundreds of songs out there that have been left to the side or forgotten about, replaced with something else. So it's a vicious cycle.

Janne: If you end up not using a song on the album, may it make a comeback on future works or is it done and gone?

Alex: It's all about timing. I think even if a song doesn't make it on a certain album, the next summer it could be the perfect thing, really. It doesn't matter if it was written in the very first days of the band, like 2018. You have to kind of pick its place. They just present themselves at a certain time. It might not mean it has to be on the album.

Janne: Your album talks about the subject of love but also criticizes our society. How important is it in your opinion to use music to talk about problems we face as a society?

Alex: Music has kind of defined eras of time. I think it's important because it is something that touches a lot of people in many different ways and it makes you listen. I think the world we live in and we're growing up in, it's not always a great place, unfortunately. The realness of the music and the lyrics, it comes from real life. And that's what we're doing - we're living through that, it’s what we're afflicted by. So that is what will come through. And like I say, love and fear, remorse and anger are the base emotions - they’re the real things that you can relate to and I find solace in writing about them.

Janne: What does ‘belonging’ mean to you and how do you create this feeling with your music?

Alex: I think, we're all just human beings. We've all got different postcodes and come from different places, but we're all just skin and bones. At the end of the day, I think music is the thing that brings so many different people together in so many different places. People from totally different walks of life could like the same song, and that's something they can bond over.

The album "Matter Does Not Define" features 12 songs with a total duration of 42 minutes. It follows their previous two consecutive No. 1 albums on the Official UK Album Chart, How Beautiful Life Can Be and From Nothing to a Little Bit More. The Lathums kicked off their new era with an exclusive 'Intimate Record Store Tour' before heading out on the 21-stop 'Matter Does Not Define Tour'.

Janne: How does it feel to play the new songs live? Was there one you were especially excited for?

Matty: I would say for the whole band, we were excited to play Long Shadows live. I think we've all kind of been excited months before the tour to play that one, because it's got that atmosphere of a live song with the dynamics of it. And I think the new songs gave us a bit of confidence as well. We know we can play them really well - we've been playing them constantly since we've recorded them really. And seeing the reaction to especially Heartbreaker is mad. It's feels like Heartbreaker has been out for years because everywhere everyone's singing to it. So, it is special playing new tunes and getting that same reaction as first album songs. It’s also my first album with the lads, so it's great to play songs that I wrote my bass lines for. People seem to be loving it, so it's good stuff.

Janne: You’ve sold out tonight’s show in the O2 Academy Brixton – how do you feel about this achievement?

Duz: Brixton tonight is definitely a milestone. This venue was our first gig in London, supporting Gerry Cinnamon. So, it is actually full circle for us since 2019 to 2025. And it only took us six years. We played roundhouse on our last album tour, which was, I mean, two and a half thousand people. So we've doubled it down.

Janne: Which artists or genres are you currently listening to, and do they influence your sound?

Duz: I’m big into 70s rock, mostly LED Zeppelin. John Bonham made me want to do this. I've got a replica of his kit, which it's awesome. He's the pinnacle of drumming for me, and that's why I'm here.

Alex: I feel bad for saying it all the time, because it's not new information to anybody but Jake Bugg’s what got me in it. Listening to his first album when I was younger, that properly made me think, I can do this.

Matty: For me, it's probably older stuff as well. I'd say Paul McCartney is the reason I picked up a guitar and a bass. All I do is try and put a bit of his playing into mine, just like the busyness of it. Some bass players keep it simple but he never did.

Janne: If you could open for any Artist – dead or alive – which one would you choose?

Alex: I'd probably choose the Beatles because I feel like you could watch all of them and learn a lot from them musically and understand how to be a band because they had their troubles and they seemed to work through things. And they were just amazing musicians so I think I'd like to be around them and learn from them.

Janne: What’s next for you after this tour? Can we expect a new album every two years or do you take some time to lay low?

Duz: We’re not doing another big break. I mean, after tour’s pretty much into festival season. There's a small period in between. I think we're just going to crack on, get writing, get demoing that record and get another album out. We're here for the long run.

Alex: Don't stop the wheels. Keep going. Get our faces out there and, increase the size of the venues just at each time. Just keep going, gain more people.