On a sweltering Friday evening in June, Barry Hyde of UK quartet, The Futureheads, kindly invited me into the band's well-equipped (and air conditioned) tour bus to escape, well, the summer and the throngs encircling Dallas' Gypsy Tearoom.

"How can you possibly stand this heat?" he asked as we sat down.

"I can't," I remarked.

When we sat down, Hyde, the Futureheads' frontman and chief songwriter, cut right to the chase and thoughtfully unraveled the executional and philosophical approaches to the songs and harmonies on their just-released News and Tributes LP, exhaustively contrasting their latest effort with their critically-acclaimed eponymous debut.



Assessing the Futureheads' rise -- and his scorn for their former label, Warner Brothers -- Hyde generously shed light on the inner-workings of a band that began, as he will admit, with few and simple expectations.

If there ever was any uncertainty about their rise, Hyde et al affirmed his confidence, and the audience's high expectations, pushing the limits, lengths, and structures of their crafty cache of songs for almost two hours. It was an impressive set and, for your host, at least, the show dutifully proved why the Futureheads have garnered such praise from a growing network of famous friends, influential publications, bloggers, hipsters, and the rest.

Downloadable PDF of Episode 41: The Futureheads

Download Podcast of Episode 41: The Futureheads