Joe Webb has revealed to NME how Damian Lewis, Lionel Messi, David Beckham and Oasis all shaped his Mercury-nominated album ‘Hamstrings & Hurricanes’. Watch our video interview above.
The Welsh jazz pianist caught up with us on the red carpet at the announcement of the Mercury Prize 2025 shortlist yesterday (Wednesday September 10) – where his acclaimed and genre-smashing album was revealed to be up against records by the likes of Fontaines D.C., CMAT, Wolf Alice, FKA Twigs, Pulp and Pa Salieu.
Asked about the striking title, Webb shared: “It comes from a great actor and musician, a friend of mine and great guy Damian Lewis. I was rehearsing and playing in his band one day and we broke for lunch. The evening before, Lionel Messi had just signed for Inter Miami. I noticed that Damien was playing at some of these champion football matches alongside Beckham, and I know that Beckham owns Inter Miami so I thought, ‘Oh, maybe there’s the possibility of going?’
“Then Damien was like, ‘Mate, it’s a really long way to go, he’s an ageing football player, his hamstrings might go, and you’ve also got to take into account that it’s hurricane season’. So there you go, ‘Hamstrings & Hurricanes’ was born.”
Does that mean there might be hope of a future David Beckham collab?
“Mate, if he’s up for it. Becks, if you’re listening, man, you’re welcome any time.”
As all jazz should be, ‘Hamstrings & Hurricanes’ is a real clash of cultures and sounds, with Webb revealing that it is “super eclectic” in its DNA by design, as combination of the trio’s differing tastes and backgrounds.
“I’m trying to get everything from all of our influences into one place, but trying to sound original with it as well so we’re not just ripping off the exact influence,” he said. “We’re inspired by everyone from Beethoven, to Liszt, to Duke Ellington, to Oscar Peterson, to Oasis, to Welsh male voice choirs.”
And how does one translate Oasis into jazz?
“I think it’s more the spirit than anything else,” Webb replied. “Essentially, those early Oasis albums are rock’n’roll albums. Rock’n’roll is basically boogie woogie which is basically stride piano, so I really see them in the same line.
“The final track on the album is a tune called ‘Hiraeth’, which is Welsh for ‘homesick’. The idea for that was to put some classical-esque Debussy-sounding arpeggiated piano stuff over a soft version of the ‘Shakermaker’ groove. We’re trying to put all these influences in one place.”
Asked if he’d had any words of approval from Liam or Noel Gallagher yet, Webb replied: “No, but I’d love to. I feel like Noel is a jazz fan. I don’t know. If they want to reach out and tell us, we’re here for it.”
Looking to the rest of this year’s Mercury shortlist, the musician said that he “didn’t even see it as a competition” to take home the coveted prize.
“It’s just so lush to be involved,” he said. “It was such a great surprise to see Emma-Jean Thackray on the list. She was the year above me in university, so I haven’t seen her for ages. I walked into the BBC building earlier on and I was like, ‘Oh my god’.”
The shortlist for the Mercury Prize 2025 is:
CMAT – ‘Euro-Country’
Emma-Jean Thackray – ‘Weirdo’
FKA Twigs – ‘Eusexua’
Fontaines D.C. – ‘Romance’
Jacob Alon – ‘In Limerence’
Joe Webb – ‘Hamstrings & Hurricanes’
Martin Carthy – ‘Transform Me Then Into A Fish’
Pa Salieu – ‘Afrikan Alien’
PinkPantheress – ‘Fancy That’
Pulp – ‘More’
Sam Fender – ‘People Watching’
Wolf Alice – ‘The Clearing’
This year’s edition of the Mercury Prize awards show will take place outside of London for the first time, and be held at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle on Thursday October 16. The ceremony will feature live performances from many of the 12 shortlisted acts, culminating in the overall winner being revealed.
Last year’s Mercury Prize was held at London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios, and saw English Teacher take home the prestigious award for their universally-acclaimed debut LP, ‘This Could Be Texas’.