Idlewild’s frontman Roddy Woomble spoke with NME about how the band has learned to embrace its history without falling into nostalgia, as well as reflecting on their journey and what lies ahead with their new self-titled album.
Released today (Friday, October 3), Idlewild marks the group’s third consecutive standout release since their reunion more than a decade ago. The Scottish alt-rock veterans continue to move forward with purpose, blending Woomble’s vivid, poetic storytelling with a sound that nods to their anthemic past while confidently carving its own identity.
“There’s always a part of me that writes from the perspective of the outsider,” Woomble told NME, describing his mindset going into the new album. “That’s how I’ve always seen myself, ever since I was a teenager. I’ve always connected with the outsider characters in books and films. Maybe that comes from moving around a lot as a kid and spending so much time alone. I gravitated toward art and books — the kinds of things you do when you’re by yourself. I was always observing, a little removed. The songs still come from that space.”
He went on to explain, “Of course, there are big, uplifting moments. We’ve always had a knack for melody, and Rod Jones is great at writing guitar parts that play off mine. There’s a real sense of euphoria in a lot of these songs. It’s not a dark or introverted record, but it’s written from that outsider’s point of view. I don’t think that feeling fades with age either. Walt Whitman felt like an outsider in his eighties, and Dylan’s still one now. It’s not a bad thing. Creativity often comes from stepping outside of yourself.”
Formed in 1995, Idlewild first made their mark with acclaimed early albums like Captain, Hope Is Important, and 100 Broken Windows. NME once described their sound as “a flight of stairs falling down a flight of stairs,” before the band’s music matured through 2000s releases The Remote Part and Warnings/Promises. Despite years of evolution and lineup changes, Woomble said the essence of the band has never changed.
“When we were eighteen, we were completely free — that’s when we started Idlewild,” he recalled. “It sounds cheesy, but the band has always been like a state of mind for us. Every time we get together in a room, that energy returns. It’s strange being older and still part of this little gang called Idlewild, but we all fall into the same roles we’ve had since we were teenagers.
“The crowd feels that too. It’s always been about the connection between us and them. We’ve got people coming to shows who’ve been there since the beginning, and when we play ‘Little Discourage’, you can see them transform back into their younger selves in the best way. There’s a sense that we’re all shifting together.”
The artwork for Idlewild’s ‘Hope Is Important’ (1998) and new self-titled album. Credit: Press
To symbolize how the band is embracing their past while looking ahead, the artwork for Idlewild intentionally echoes that of Hope Is Important. Both covers feature photos taken by Woomble at the same location decades apart.
“I’ve been shooting film for years and love experimenting with double exposure,” he said. “I wanted the cover to be vibrant and layered — something that wasn’t vague but still invited interpretation. Strangely enough, I was visiting my parents in Carnoustie on Scotland’s east coast, where we shot the Hope Is Important cover at West Haven Beach when I was younger.
“I ended up standing in the exact same spot, but this time I turned and faced the opposite direction. The more I thought about it, the more meaning that had. Hope Is Important marked the start of our journey — that photo showed two friends looking at a wrecked boat in sepia tones, like an old memory. The new cover shows a figure facing forward, looking toward what’s next. It feels like it ties everything together.”
Read NME’s full interview with Roddy Woomble below, where he opens up about the band’s chemistry, how they’ve learned to appreciate their legacy without being confined by it, and what the future looks like for Idlewild.
NME: Hello Roddy. Tell us about the six-year wait for this album
Roddy Woomble: “The idea for Idlewild is that we were going to follow up ‘Interview Music’ pretty much straight away. We were going to write and record it in 2020, and put it out either in 2021 or 2022. Obviously that plan was made null and void by the pandemic. Subsequently, we ended up not seeing much of each other for two years as none of us live in the same place.
“Those two years felt like they didn’t exist in band time. I made solo records, so kept myself very busy and creative and found a way to work through all that. The band was a different thing because we write songs together and we just couldn’t do it.”
Was there an energy and raft of ideas after ‘Interview Music’ that you bottled up?
“No. That record was pretty well-received, but it fell under the radar somewhat. We were trying new things in the way we were working with songs, and it was much longer than our other records. We were quite inspired by doing more stuff like that. Then the dust settled and when we came to play the anniversary shows for ‘The Remote Part’, that was the start of round two and we started afresh. We didn’t go back to any of those ideas.”
In releasing a book about the band and touring ‘The Remote Part’ again, how does that make you feel about your relationship to the band and what you wanted to do next?
“None of us are massively nostalgic. If we’re going to go on tour, we want the focus to be on new and creative work. When the band started 30 years ago, we never did cover versions – we were always working on our own stuff. At the start, we were very rudimentary and quite bad at times, but there’s always got to be something new to say with each other. That’s not to dismiss any of the music we’ve made or the wonderful records we’ve done together, but sometimes those album or anniversary shows are a catalyst to focus on what’s good about the band. That’s what ‘The Remote Part’ shows reminded us of.
“There’s a Scottish disposition to be a wee bit self-deprecating, to not really celebrate yourself. Those kinds of shows force you to do that because you see the joy on people’s faces. You realise you’ve done something really good. We came away from those shows thinking, ‘Let’s make a new record and try to capture a bit of that feel that ‘The Remote Part’ or ‘100 Broken Windows’ has – these records that people really respond to. It’s not like we’re not looking forward. It’s more, ‘Let’s do it now, let’s make our version of Idlewild and maybe reference ourselves a little bit’. It feels like a mix of a lot of good things about the band.”
What brings on the need to get Idlewild back into a room?
“We don’t view it like that, really. It’s still exactly like it was when we first started: a slightly unprofessional non-careerist attitude that Idlewild have always had! That’s perhaps why we never became massively popular like Coldplay, Snow Patrol or these other bands that started around the same time or just after us. One, we’re friends, and two, it’s about what we’re going to make together. There’s a simplicity to it, always. We approach every record like we’ve never made a record before, and that keeps it fresh. If you allow yourself to still be surprised by things, it’s always going to sound fresh – even if you’re 48 rather than 18.”
What were those surprises while making this record?
“If you take a break from something – whether it’s writing, music, painting, whatever – when you come back to it, you realise how fun it is. Sometimes you can get really overwhelmed with anxieties and worries about your creative worth or what you’re actually doing. You take a step away from that for a few years, and they’re gone. You just focus on the positive things about it. Everyone’s got their own ideas from doing their own records, so it was a very creative period.”
How does it feel to be here now, among this wave of ‘90s nostalgia in the wake of the Oasis reunion, but focusing on something new?
“We are a ‘90s band, but I suppose we’re more associated with the early ‘00s because that’s when we had the records that most people know. ‘The Remote Part’ and ‘Warnings/Promises’ came out in 2002 and 2005. That was the period where we were busiest, playing our biggest shows and going to America. We formed in the mid-90s, released albums, and our music taste was informed by American bands from the early ‘90s. You had Suede and all these Britpop bands, but we were after that. It was like a no-man’s land until all the American indie bands came along in 2001. It was a strange period before that – it wasn’t Britpop, grunge had gone, we were waiting for something new, and Idlewild were in the middle of that.
“We weren’t part of that Coldplay thing either, but we did get a bit of a backlash. ‘Warnings/Promises’ came out, which included acoustic guitars like we’d never had before. It seems absurd now but people were accusing us of trying to get a bit of that. That was never our intention. We were four records into our career and trying to do something we’d never done before.”
And back then there was an expectation for bands to just continue to get massive. You probably got as big as Idlewild could comfortably be?
“We did. We couldn’t pull it off at that point. With ‘Warnings/Promises’ and our line-up changing, everything had got a bit more professional. We had lights and stuff like that. We were a really good band that could play on big stages. If we’d just been that band around ‘The Remote Part’, it might have been different. That was our biggest-selling record but Bob [Fairfoull, former bassist] was still falling over on stage and things were always breaking. Coldplay and all these other bands were always so professional, but we weren’t professional quick enough!”
Do you have that same feeling as after ‘Interview Music’ with the itch to make another Idlewild album soon?
“We need to get back into playing gigs. We’ve not spent that much time together since we recorded the record. We need to get on tour and start hanging out, and something will hopefully naturally come from that.”
Your solo records have been great. Are we going to get more music from you soon?
“Thanks. Well, I’m always doing stuff. I’m actually writing a novel, which I’ve been trying to do for years. The last few solo records came with 25,000-word journals with drawing and photography, so I’m trying to do a book form of that. That’s my creative project at the moment, but I’ll definitely be making other solo records. It’s a brilliant creative outlet for me.”
Can you express differently as a solo artist in ways you can’t with Idlewild?
“I guess so, subconsciously. With Idlewild, I’m trying to simplify it a little bit. I’m trying to make it as catchy as possible, so the melodies are as economic and lean as they can be so they can be remembered. Solo, I feel like I’m not being judged by anyone, so I can really splurge with the words and try different styles of music. I’ve electronic and folky records as well as ones that were more ambient and spoken word. I can be more creative, but they’re also more low-key. They come out either on tiny labels or no label at all. I’m not down on my solo records; they just exist for a different reason.”
Is there any ground Idlewild haven’t covered that you’d like them to?
“That’s not up to me. That’s why I started making solo records. Not that there was conflict, but a degree of creative conflict is healthy and makes the music good. I wouldn’t even suggest things like that, because I don’t think it would go down very well!”
‘Idlewild’ is out now via V2 Records. See the band’s upcoming tour dates below and visit here for tickets and more information.
OCTOBER 2025
03 – Circuit, Kingston
04 – The Dome, London
05 – Cavern Club, Liverpool
07 – St Luke’s, Glasgow
08 – Liquid Room, Edinburgh
10 – Boilershop, Newcastle
11 – Project House, Leeds
12 – Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
14 – The Junction, Cambridge
15 – O2 Academy, Bristol
17 – Koko, London
18 – New Century Hall, Manchester
DECEMBER 2025
05 – Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen
06 – LiveHouse, Dundee
07 – Barrowland, Glasgow
JANUARY 2026
02-05 – Rockaway Beach, Bognor Regis
