Kasabian

Kasabian are an English rock band from Leicester consisting of singer Tom Meighan, guitarist and songwriter Serge Pizzorno, bassist Chris Edwards and drummer Ian Matthews. They have released five studio albums with their most recent, ’48:13′, released in June 2014.

Meighan, Pizzorno and Edwards were all students at Countetsthorpe Community College and, in 1997, began working together as the group Saracuse. They later changed their name to Kasabian – inspired by Linda Kasabian, the getaway driver for Charles Manson’s notorious cult – and eventually released their self-titled debut album in 2004. The LP, which included the singles ‘Club Foot’, ‘Reason Is Treason’, ‘LSF’ and ‘Processed Beats’, was a Number Four hit on the UK Albums Chart.

Kasabian’s second album, ‘Empire’, was released in 2006. During the making of the album, band member Christopher Karloff quit the group due to “artistic and creative differences”. The LP gave Kasabian their first UK Number One and received a 9/10 review from NME.

The band’s next two albums, 2009’s ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ and 2011’s ‘Velociraptor’, both also went to Number One in the UK Albums Chart. In 2013, touring guitarist Jay Mehler left the band to join Liam Gallagher’s new group Beady Eye. He was replaced by Tim Carter.

Kasabian’s fifth album, ’48:13′, was released in June 2014. It became the group’s fourth consecutive Number One album and was described by the band themselves as more “direct” and “stripped back”. Shortly after releasing the album, Kasabian headlined Glastonbury 2014 for the first time.

In 2015, NME nominated Kasabian for a total of 9 awards, beating the previous record held by Oasis at 7 nominations in 2009. For Halloween 2015, the group covered their own rendition of The Addams Family theme song titled ‘The Meighan Family Values’ which was named after the family of the bands vocalist Tom Meighan and is available to listen to via their YouTube page. In addition to the Halloween song, Kasabian guitarist Serge Pizzorno recorded and released a collaborative Christmas single with actor and comedian Noel Fielding titled ‘Can’t Wait For Christmas’ which was released under the moniker Loose Tapestries.

In 2016 the band emerged from the studio to play two massive shows at Leicester City’s football ground to celebrate their side’s Premier League title. At the gigs, the band played a new song ‘Put Your Life On It’ which they said was inspired by their side’s win. In September, the band shared their first piece of new music in two years in the shape of single ‘Comeback Kid’, which is available exclusively on video game FIFA 17. 

No confirmed timeline has been released for the album, but they recently announced their first live gig of 2017 – which means that an album could be arriving before the summer.