When I mention I’ve just spoken with Guy Garvey, the response from my colleagues is immediate. “I think I love him, was he extremely lovely?” asks one. “My mum is obsessed,” goes another. Particularly now, in the current climate, there’s something comforting about the thought of Garvey, the frontman of one of Britain’s best rock bands, Elbow. The sound of his dulcet tones on your kitchen radio is as warm and welcome as the whiff of a Sunday roast in the oven. National treasure status will surely be awarded any day now.
It’s hard to believe that next year will mark 30 years since Elbow formed, while Garvey was at school in Manchester with bassist Pete Turner, brothers Craig and Mark Potter on guitar and keys, and Richard Jupp on drums (Jupp left the band in 2016, replaced by Alex Reeves). Will there be a cake, a party? “Probably not,” Garvey tells me. “They’re horribly unsentimental, my boys.”
