ATHLETE

It is with great excitement and anticipation that we welcome IVYLIVE newcomers Athlete to this year’s already illustrious line-up, as they’re set to headline the first night of the festival.

Since bouncing to prominence seven years ago with the spirited, electro-tinged, indie-pop of their Mercury-nominated debut, ‘Vehicles And Animals’, Athlete have established themselves among the UK's finest songsmiths. The south east Londoners have sold more than a million copies of their three hit albums (the other two being 2005's ‘Tourist’ and 2007's ‘Beyond The Neighbourhood’), packed out venues across the land, picked up an Ivor Novello award and topped both the UK's album and airplay charts.

Athlete’s latest album, titled ‘Black Swan’, is a musical summary of everything Athlete have been through; the good, the bad and the ugly. They worked with esteemed American producer Tom Rothrock (Foo Fighters, Elliot Smith, Elbow, Beck)on the album, which positively glows with snagging melodies, rich musicality and the band's heartfelt tales.

The band have been through a lot together over the last few years, from leaving EMI records, touring America without their drummer and having to endure devastating personal tragedies. Despite all this, Athlete have made the strongest collection of songs to date. That much was underlined by the fact that, once the album was finished, the band quickly signed to Polydor's enormously successful Fiction imprint (home, amongst others, to Elbow, Snow Patrol, White Lies and Kate Nash).