All indicators suggest Pendulum’s new album, Immersion, will be their most stonking yet.

Which is just as Comment [ILT1]: Suggests colossal

well because the band‟s main players, Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen, won‟t be happy with anything and immense.
less than a UK number one.

“I should say,” declares angular frontman Swire, ”‟Oh, you can never hope for that and we‟d be amazed by
any result,‟ but we‟d fucking better! We‟ll get our pants in a right twist if we don‟t.“ Comment [ILT2]:

You can‟t blame his siege mentality. In 2008 the band‟s high octane drum „n‟ bass opus, In Silico, stormed
to number one in the midweek album charts only to be overtaken by Neil Diamond’s greatest hits by the
weekend, thus earning the band a mere, official “Number 2”.

“We literally got swamped by him,” vents Swire. “Someone joked that Neil Diamond is putting out another
album …and we tore the roof off!” Comment [ILT3]: Quite competitive,
but in a jokey way
But it‟s not Crunchy Granola Suite et al the duo have to worry about this time.

“Glee!” spits Swire referring to the popular hit US TV comedy known to hijack the charts with its anodyne
pop soundtracks. Fortunately Pendulum‟s album is scheduled for release the week before. “We‟ve got one
week before we get completely obliterated,” laughs McGrillen. Comment [ILT4]: Doesn‟t take things
too seriously, only care about the
We are chatting in Swire‟s Camden bolthole, a recording studio-slash-flat adorned with the band‟s platinum quality of their music not how much
records. It‟s a testament to how far Pendulum have come both commercially and artistically. money they gain.
Comment [ILT5]: “Bolthole” is
With their first album, Hold Your Colour (2005), the duo took a defibrillator to drum „n‟ bass, jolting the another word for sanctuary, this shows
genre back to life and earning a devoted following beyond their home town of Perth. With second outing In his passion for music
Silico they moved to London and bridged the gap between rock and dance, earning them comparisons to Comment [ILT6]: Revolutionary
The Prodigy, headline slots at rock festivals like Download, and a massive UK following. genre, changing opinions

Immersion represents a return to the band‟s underground drum „n‟ bass roots and was borne out of Swire‟s
and McGrillen‟s desire to get back into production. “We DJ‟ed this album a lot, we toured it extensively
throughout Australia, using them as guinea pig audiences on all the new material,” explains McGrillen.

And how did the guinea pigs like it?

“They squealed and rolled around – they loved it,” says Swire. “Then we came back and just wrote the
record out, no tears, no blood, no kitten scratching.”

Unlike the previous album, apparently. Comment [ILT7]: Serious about work,
know what they want
“When I finished In Silico I really wasn‟t happy with it at all,” Swire explains. “I can‟t listen to any of the
tracks without hearing how they should have sounded …on this record we did beefier versions of
everything. We went mad at it.” Comment [ILT8]: Perfectionist, there
is always more he can do to improve
That said, Pendulum haven‟t neglected their guitar influences. “I think we‟ve taken the rock element to the
next extreme, if we‟d done that on In Silico we would have really alienated fans,” explains McGrillen. Comment [ILT9]: Care about their
fans
The album features a collaboration with Swedish metal band In Flames on Self Vs Self. More pertinently,
The Prodigy kingpin Liam Howlett features on one track, Immunize; his contribution was – if you can
believe the press – an olive branch to smooth over supposed rivalry between the two bands.

“If anyone was slagging someone off it was probably us and we didn‟t mean it,” offers McGrillen. “People Comment [ILT10]: Honesty
[he means the press] like to invent the animosity.”

Well, hatchets real or imagined have been buried because Pendulum are supporting The Prodigy at Milton
Keynes Bowl in July. “We did a gig there with Linkin shithouse Park,” McGrillen reminisces. “That venue is
wicked.” Comment [ILT11]: Enjoy playing live

“It will be good,” says Swire with comic understatement. Comment [ILT12]: Slightly sarcastic

It could very well be the gig of the whole goddamned year.