54 LISTENER JUNE 8 2019
F
or a while, Snow Patrol looked
as if they were the ones in need
of a search party. The big-in-the-
noughties band from Northern
Ireland have been out of the public eye for
much of the past decade, on an extended
hiatus that they feared might become
permanent.
The reason for the break, it emerged,
was frontman Gary Lightbody’s battles
with mental health, alcohol and his
father’s dementia.
Lead guitarist Nathan Connolly admits
there was frustration over Snow Patrol’s
inertia and moments when they doubted
they would ever return.
“We’d try to support Gary and push
him in the right places, but this was
unmapped territory for us. We didn’t
know what he was going through, and we
weren’t aware of what it was putting him
through. We’re fortunate to have a lyricist
whose words mean a lot to people, who’s
poetic and simple and gets to the heart
of things. But, this time, it ripped him
apart.”
Thanks largely to the enduring
popularity of one song, Snow Patrol have
been able to pick up where they left off.
Their 2006 single Chasing Cars struck pop-
culture gold when it crescendoed through
two TV series finales (One Tree Hill andMUSIC
by James BelfieldIn from the
wilderness
After a long hiatus,
hit-making band
Snow Patrol are
heading back to
New Zealand.
Grey’s Anatomy) that year, and it’s been
earworming its way through adverts and
movie soundtracks ever since.
It’s also been big among the dead. On
charts kept by Britain’s largest funeral-
home operator, it has remained for four
years in a row the most-requested indie
song to go out on. It’s not about to pushthe all-time favourite, Frank Sinatra’s My
Wa y, off the UK undertaker hit parade,
but it says something about Snow Patrol’s
emotionally charged music, which filled
stadiums but often left critics cold.
Connolly says that when Chasing Cars
was written, they knew it was “a little
bit special”, but had no idea what the
song – powered by Lightbody’s lyrics and
Connolly’s driving guitar – would mean
for their careers.
“It’s what you dream about as a
musician, for one of your songs to mean
that much to someone that it connects
them to a moment – their struggles, joy
or grief – and makes them feel powerful,”
he says. “Gary has written that song sosimply, and it connects. It’s an honour
that it means so much to those people.”A
fter their 2006 album, Eyes Open,
it seemed as if Snow Patrol was on
a Coldplay-like trajectory, filling
stadiums and shrugging off the haters.
Lightbody was the first of many music
stars to cameo in Game of Thrones, in
its first season. But seven years passed
between lacklustre 2011 album Fallen
Empires and its follow-up, Wildness, and
an ensuing support slot on Ed Sheeran’s
US tour.
The time it’s taken to deliver Wildness
means Connolly knows the band have
“skipped a generation” when it comes to
audiences. Hence, the tour with Sheeran,
to reintroduce themselves.
They’re back playing arenas in some
parts of the world, but on their first visit
to Auckland since 2007, they’ll be an
unplugged three-piece in a theatre. It’s a
format that puts the emphasis back on the
words, says Connolly.
“When we strip the sound back, it
becomes more tender and it really shines
a light on the lyrics, because they’re naked
and not relying on the bombast or the
huge guitars.” lSnow Patrol: Live and Acoustic, August 8, at
Auckland’s ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre.Stripping the sound back: Snow Patrol.Their 2006 single Chasing
Cars struck pop-culturegold and has been
Britain’s most-requestedindie funeral song.