Initially, Idlewild's sound was faster and more dissonant than many of their 1990s indie rock contemporaries. However, it developed over time from an edgy and angular sound (as heard in their early material--once described by the NME as "the sound of a flight of stairs falling down a flight of stairs") to a sweeping, melodic rock sound as displayed on The Remote Part and Warnings/Promises. While Idlewild's sound cannot be easily placed into a specific genre, they have clearly been influenced by the likes of: Gang of Four, Pavement, R.E.M., Blur and Fugazi.
Part of Idlewild's early success can be attributed to their singles gaining heavy rotation on Steve Lamacq's Evening Session on BBC Radio 1. Alongside his all-round endorsement of the band, Lamacq often cites them as one of his favourite bands.
In April 2010, vocalist Roddy Woomble announced that the band will enter a 'hiatus' following their current tour. However this was proved to be a misunderstanding of sorts with Woomble later going on to suggest that there would be further shows before the end of 2010 in support of the EMI re-release of "100 Broken Windows".
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