JOHN EARLS
The offices of Metronomy’s record company Because Music are pure hipster from the outside: they take up an upper floor of a converted shop off Shoreditch High Street in East London. Inside, it’s much cosier, a friendly bustle of activity. It’s so welcoming, there’s Champagne and strawberries on the office kitchen table. These turn out to be the remains of a signing ceremony, to welcome jazz singer Charlotte Dos Santos to the label.
Turning down his PR’s jokey offer of some bubbly, Metronomy frontman Joe Mount leads Classic Pop into Because Music’s small interview room/spare office. Gold discs line the wall – Christine And The Queens, Cassius, Major Lazer… – as Joe leans over and conspiratorially mentions: “You’ll notice none of these are mine.” He’s laughing as he says it but, as he takes his seat next to a gold disc of Justice’s classic dance album Cross, it becomes clear Joe’s collective are at something of a crossroads.