Hope Of The States

Although we have only just witnessed the release of Hope of the States' second album, it must seem to the band as if they have already been in the industry for a near lifetime. Five years ago they were merely a group of friends studying in a Chichester college; since then, they have been on an incredible journey, encompassing great success, immense courage and profound heartbreak.

Named after a 1930s paper on the state of the mental health system in the USA, Hope Of The States' sound sits somewhere between the intelligent, intense alternative rock of Radiohead and the expansive string-laden post-rock of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The band currently consists of six members: Sam Herlihy (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Anthony Theaker (guitar, keyboards), Paul Wilson (bass), Mike Siddell (violin), Mike Hibbert (guitar), and Simon Jones (drums).

Much of the band's early history is shrouded in mystery, but a series of demos were created in 2001 and 2002. The eight-track demo was the first known release, and featured just Sam, Jimmi and Simon of the official line-up. This was followed by a two-track demo, featuring an early version of first single Black Dollar Bills, which attracted interest from Teletext's 'Planet Sound' music magazine, and ultimately led to the band's record deal.

The band's debut single Black Dollar Bills, released on Seeker Records in March 2003, was a limited-edition release of 1,000, with each copy coming in a handmade hessian sleeve. Later that year, the band got their big break, being signed by Sony Music on a three-album deal. Their first major-label single, Enemies/Friends, charted at 25 in October 2003 and resulted in a debut appearance on Top Of The Pops.

However, just as the anticipation was growing for the band's debut album, the band were rocked by the tragic and untimely death of guitarist James (Jimmi) Lawrence in January 2004. Despite this catastrophic loss, the band decided to continue without their great friend and founder member. The band's debut album The Lost Riots, which was dedicated to Jimmi's memory, was released to critical acclaim in June 2004, achieving a highest chart position of 21, with preceding single The Red The White The Black The Blue entering the singles chart at 15 in May.

The band recruited new guitarist Mike Hibbert (the only non-Chichester native in the band) through a newspaper advert in 2004, and after extensive touring the new line-up retired to the studio to record the second album. A new EP, Blood Meridian, was released, charting at a disappointing (39?) in April 2006. The title track of the EP was the first single release from the forthcoming album 'Left', which was released in June 2006, shortly after the second single 'Sing It Out'.

The band's sophomore release showed a more concise and, some would say, commercial side to Hope of the States; save for the opening electro-instrumental sweep of 'Seconds', the album is free of many of the post-rock stylings of its predecessor, settling instead for a more instantaneous style. The album received mixed reviews in the press, and charted at an extremely disappointing 50 before disappearing from the Top 75 altogether the following week. At the time of writing, the band are about to release the third single from the album, the title track 'Left'.

Also, for the first time, the band undertook their videos without the aid of long-time collaborators type2error; both 'Blood Meridian' and 'Left' were produced and directed elsewhere, and fans' opinion on these were rather divided. It would appear to be an uncertain time for the band; the second album and its singles appeared to be poorly publicised, resulting in poor sales, and some have conjectured that Sony have 'given up' with the band.

However, Hope of the States have always been a very active collective, creating a constant stream of studio recordings not available for commercial release, including a string of fan-only CDs released under the moniker 'Thee Dust Rackets'. Two recent side-projects, known as 'Troubles' and 'Blocks', convey a sparse and experimental sound, veering more towards the ambient and minimalist. It would be fair to describe Hope Of The States as a multimedia band; as well as releasing songs and side-projects through the internet (such as download-only single AMM=IBM, released in early 2004), the band achieved notoriety for their on-stage backing videos and slide shows (which have now been discontinued), as well as their atmospheric videos and imaginative packaging, produced in conjunction with the aforementioned type2error.

With their insistent musical messages of hope in a hopeless world and their penchant for succinct political statement in their music and their methods, Hope Of The States have carved themselves an unmistakable niche in the 21st-century alternative music landscape.