Luke Haines

One of the most important songwriters of his generation, Luke Haines is known for leading the bands The Auteurs, Black Box Recorder and The Servant, in addition to a prolific solo career. Born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on October 7, 1967, he first came to prominence in the early 1990s as leader of The Auteurs, whose 1993 album New Wave was hailed as a serious alternative to mainstream Britpop. Rejecting the clichés of this scene, Haines developed a biting, literary style, blending elegant melodies with acerbic lyrics. After The Auteurs, he continued with the more experimental Baader Meinhof project, then with Black Box Recorder, alongside John Moore and Sarah Nixey, which allowed him to explore an icy, cynical pop universe. On his solo career, Luke Haines has released a number of conceptual albums, often inspired by obscure or controversial figures in British history, such as 9 1/2 Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s & Early '80s (2011) and Rock and Roll Animals (2013). Also the author of several autobiographical books, he cultivates a caustic tone and a lucid outsider posture, imposing his singular voice in British independent music. His satirical, intellectual and often provocative approach to pop and rock has led to the creation of projects that receive little media coverage, despite their always interesting and original inspiration. In addition to the concept albums Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop (2006), 21st Century Man (2009), New York in the 1970s (2014), British Nuclear Bunkers (2015), Smash the System (2016) and I Sometimes Dream of Glue (2018), he collaborated with Peter Buck of R.E.M. on Beat Poetry for Survivalists (2020) and All the Kids Are Super Bummed Out (2022). Meanwhile, he produced the incidental music for Test Driving the New Prius (2020) and the solo album Setting the Dogs on the Post Punk Postman (2021). In 2025, he continued with Going Down to the River... To Blow My Mind.

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