ARCHIVE

Since their formation in Croydon, South London in 1994 Archive have operated as masters of their own destiny, eschewing prevailing trends for a more unique musical blend of their own. Founding members Darius Keeler and Danny Griffiths joined forces with South London rapper Rosko John, and Iranian-born singer Roya Arab for 1996’s trip-hop tinged and critically acclaimed debut album ‘Londinium’. Various line-up changes over the years saw Keeler and Griffiths deciding to retire the idea of the "lead singer” in favour of a more flexible collective approach. 12 studio albums in to their career Archive have headlined festivals throughout Europe and grown to be one of the UK’s biggest live exports to the continent in the process. Early this year, Archive released their studio album ‘Call To Arms & Angels’, a deluxe edition of the previous album released in 2022 and dropped their first new music since 2019’s career-spanning retrospective albums ‘25’ and ‘Versions’. Talking about ‘Call To Arms & Angels’ album, which was written and recorded throughout 2021 Darius Keeler said, “The song-writing became an unfolding narrative as the world got stranger and more disturbing every day. To reflect on these times as artists brought a strange kind of inspiration that was unsettling, but also made us appreciate the power of music and how lucky we are to be able to express our feelings in this way”.