“Sit here,” instructs Carlotta Cosials with a grin. We do as we’re told, taking an empty seat in the middle of Hinds and instantly, we’re part of their gang. It’s the same immediate entanglement that skips through their second album ‘I Don’t Run’. Well-worn, comfortable and with the edges beginning to fray because of constant, loving use, the record sees them more deliberate and considered, but still having the most fun imaginable.
The band are a little tired following last night’s show at London’s Sebright Arms and the party that followed. “What a night,” they beam. It’s a familiar feeling ‘cos since the release of debut album ‘Leave Me Alone’, Hinds have been on a seemingly non-stop journey around the world.
Everything that’s happened so far, “wasn’t even a dream,” begins Ana Perrotte. “It came so early; it’s something we didn’t dream of. We didn’t have the time. This life chose us.”
“We’ve missed playing live,” she continues, and the fact they’re not already soundchecking in another venue, in another city is a little weird.
“Last night was like an appetizer of touring,” starts Carlotta. A little soup or garlic bread. “After that, we’re excited for the whole year. We’re not going to stop. Last night was like having the candy in your mouth, then having to take it out,” she continues, before pausing. “I think we’re hungry still.”
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As for the new album, it’s the full works. “It’s a burger with double cheese,” explains Carlotta as the band pile on more and more toppings. Bacon. Fries. Onions. Ketchup. Everything, really. That hunger, it’s definitely not going anywhere.
Everything has changed for the band since ‘Leave Me Alone’. “We’ve played so many shows,” grins Ana. “We’ve listened to so many things, and we’ve been everywhere. We’ve changed as people.” And that shows in ‘I Don’t Run’.
“‘It’s bigger, stronger and it’s more direct lyrically,” Carlotta explains. “We haven’t used that many metaphors because we wanted to speak clearly. It’s braver, and it sounds funnier; it has a sense of humour,” she promises. “It’s so bad of me to say this, but it’s better.”
‘I Don’t Run’ still twirls with a fuzzy charm, but the music, the lyrics and the feelings behind it all are larger and more complex. There’s no sheen in the way as Hinds, “try and make people feel things. We wanted that live feeling, We still wanted a total rock ‘n’ roll classic,” explains Ana. “On the first album, suddenly we had a xylophone or something like that. On this album, there’s not another instrument in sight. We’ve only used two guitars, a bass and drums.”
More compact, the band’s glistening personalities are fully locked together now, bouncing off one another as they toy, tease and twist about the record as the sad moments dwell for longer, the happy moments sparkle brighter and the moments of anger don’t hold anything back.
“It’s a practical thing,” starts Ana. “Everything is more powerful now. Whatever we say, it’s more powerful because we know how to say it and we know how to play it. We always prioritise being clear, being passionate and expressing everything.” she continues. “You can’t be yelling all the time.”
“Of course, we are better with our instruments,” smirks Carlotta. “Not by a lot, but at least we’re better.”
“It’s experience, too,” continues Ade Martin. “Being in Madrid and going to uni doesn’t inspire the same feelings as touring for three years, meeting people or going to Australia. Those feelings become way bigger, and you can tell on the record.”
“The thing about touring is that it gets intense,” explains Carlotta. “You lose your perspective a lot of the time, and suddenly small things become bigger. You get angry about nothing, you get stressed about nothing, and you fall in love, again and again. Everything that’s usually small is magnified.”
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‘Leave Me Alone’ was a record about love, all hope for new experiences and new people, while ‘I Don’t Run’ is about “not love,” Carlotta continues. “There’s no word in English, but in Spanish, you can say ‘desamor’. It’s the opposite of love, but it’s not hate. It’s what comes after love ends.”
Sometimes heartbreak, sometimes the peace of new beginnings, it’s a record of strong feelings, she explains. “‘I Feel Cold But I Feel More’ is the first song we wrote for the album. Ana and I went to the beach, and we were both single. We’d just broken up with our boyfriends, and it was a very special trip. When you’ve been with someone for so long, you forget how to be single and how to be with a friend. Suddenly you’re thinking about flirting with other people, falling in love with other people, and that freedom of being single is special.
“It’s not that you’re not free when you’re in a relationship, but it’s different. In that moment, it felt like suddenly the world was ours. We didn’t mind if it was true or not.”
Elsewhere the “you” in ‘New For You’ is “a person you love.” A song about self-growth and making peace with flaws, the track knows full well that you have a past that you cannot change. “Sometimes you’re going to wish you hadn’t made mistakes, but they’re with you forever, so you have to accept them,” Carlotta reasons. “It’s hard to accept mistakes. It’s not that easy, and when you find a new person, you’d love to be awesome for them. You want to be better. Choosing love as a reason to try to make a better version of yourself. I think that’s beautiful.”
As for ‘Tester’, “It’s got the lyric: ‘Should I have known before that you were also banging her?’, so that’s all you need to know about that track,” explains Ana with a smirk.
“We like taking album titles that aren’t from the record and are more a statement of where the band is at the moment,” Ana explains. “‘I Don’t Run’ is going against those rock’n’roll rules of ‘live fast, die young’ or ‘do this now and don’t care about tomorrow’. We’re against that. We’re not going to run.”
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The title is also a promise of control. “For the first record, everything was a rush,” explains Amber Grimbergen. “The writing was a nightmare, the recording was the same, and the music videos were the same. For this one, we made the decision that it wasn’t going to happen again. Every single we do is going to be well thought out.”
“What’s going to come next this year is going to be tough and crazy, but you’ve just got to take a deep breath, and we know what’s coming. It’s not going to be a surprise,” assures Carlotta.
“I’ll show you how to fight for more,” promised ‘Garden’ way back on their debut and Hinds haven’t stopped since. Yes, the band constantly look like they’re having the absolute best time onstage and off, yes everything happened quickly for them and sure ‘I Don’t Run’ makes you want to call your friends, head to the beach and forget about everything else, but there’s more to Hinds than good-time escape.
They used to feel like they had something to prove to people, and now they don’t. “When we started the band, we decided to be ourselves. We play in the way we play, and we are the way we are.” They’d rather try something and fail, then wait until they know for sure. They wear their mistakes like armour. “It’s not that we like the mistakes, we do try hard to avoid them, but the way everything happens, it’s just impossible.” So, they roll with it, never dwelling but always hoping for better.
“We’re tough with ourselves,” starts Amber. “Because of how we started and being ourselves, making mistakes is not easy. It’s not easy when there are so many people seeing them or talking about them. We will never do something just to prove something, that would never be the final goal. But sometimes it does feel good to change peoples opinions or get them to hear something they wouldn’t expect.”
Fearless, brilliant and determined to have a good time, ‘I Don’t Run’ is the sound of friends ready to take on the world. Bristling with confidence, the band know what’s around this corner and are hopeful for the next. “I would love to change history with this thing that is Hinds. Hinds existed in this moment, and they did something for the world.”
Taken from the April issue of Dork – order a copy or subscribe below. Hinds’ album ‘I Don’t Run’ is out now.