It’s a gray, wet day and Athlete’s lead singer/guitarist Joel Pott has just come home after getting completely doused. He recently moved into a new house in the London suburb of Brockley, which is just a short walk from the band’s new studio where they recorded their gracefully anthemic third album, Beyond the Neighbourhood. The benefit of this arrangement, according to Pott, is “you can go for a drink with your mates when you’re done recording.” Considering the Anglo foursome’s latest LP tackles such weighty issues as extreme weather brought on by climate change (“Hurricane”), the disintegration of the natural world (“Second Hand Stores”) and 9/11 (“Best Not To Think About”), a pint and some friendly conversation after a day in the proverbial office was probably much needed.

Athlete’s 2004 debut, Vehicles & Animals, was a self-described “happy-go-lucky” quirk pop affair about their childhoods, while the follow-up, 2005’s Tourist, was a decidedly more morose collection of lovelorn ballads about broken hearts, failed relationships and the rigors of being away from your loved ones. When it came to write Beyond the Neighbourhood, Pott, along with bassist Carey Willets, drummer Steve Roberts and keyboardist Tim Wanstall, didn’t want to go over old ground, so they turned to the world around them. “Plus, there hadn’t been too many shitty happenings in our own relationships,” Pott says with a laugh.

“There are so many issues that affect us individually that are prodding you to discover what your response is to them,” Pott continues. “Whether the issues are environmental, political or something to do with your identity, they are all begging to be addressed, even though you may not be able to make a huge difference. I do my bit at home, but then I jump on an airplane to tour the States. Or you say, ‘Let’s make all our merchandise Fair Trade and organic.’ But then the only place to get it is in the States, so it’s being shipped over and that’s not good. Even if you want to shop locally, you need to go to several grocery stores and after a while you just run out of time.”

Perhaps the most stirring moment on the album is the heart-rending “Best Not To Think About,” which Pott was inspired to write after watching the documentary Falling Man. The film examines those who chose to jump from the Twin Towers rather than perish in the inferno, though the Athlete frontman spins the song to encompass a wider metaphor. “When you’re in a relationship and you’re going through something really difficult, you can choose to get out of it or you can choose to work through it together. You don’t know what’s around the corner, but it’s about that point when you choose to jump with someone and be with them, no matter what the cost.”

At the end of the day, Beyond the Neighborhood is full of songs that Pott says, “admit they don’t have the answers, but refuse to lie down and accept things as they are.” Given the raw beauty of Athlete’s songwriting, these thoughtful-as-they-are-catchy tunes do a good job of making the bitter pill of reality a lot easier to swallow.–Nevin Martell

(photo credit: Danny Clinch)