Good Time/Hard Time: CD

A tree may lose its leaves but will continue to grow. For Teleman, the band’s fourth album Good Time / Hard Time is their first as a trio and sees them evolve as a force of nature as they navigate new beginnings despite a wealth of experience behind them. Music and lyrical stream of consciousness entwined, the album makes sense of a world in chaos and its words of wisdom are a vital reminder that even when things seem heavy, life is precious.

“Nature can teach us so much about patience and how you can’t control everything - you just have to let things happen as it intends… it’s great therapy,” tells the band’s singer and guitarist, Thomas Sanders whose garden-dwelling and park strolls to the studio have inevitably wormed their way into Teleman’s songwriting. “I was reading about forests and how trees help each other, they don’t survive on their own, they grow together… as a band we’ve now grown into each other as a triangle shape after having been a square for so long.”

With classic Teleman style, Good Time / Hard Time is their most dancefloor-friendly record to date. Following the departure of the band’s long-time keyboard player Jonny Sanders to focus on his film and design work, Peter Cattermoul now leads on keyboard duties and Hiro Amamiya slides seamlessly between drum machine, live drums and even the odd keyboard solo as it captures the bounce of choice cuts from their own DJ sets such as Metronomy or the classic disco of Boney M, Giorgio Moroder, early house music and 80s vibes - all the while doused in their trademark blend of uplifting melancholy. “You’ve got to experience the hard times to appreciate the good times in life,” Tom explains. “Most of the songs are about universal things everyone can relate to, the small and simple details about difficult connections and overcoming them.”