This UK indie rock band gained some prominent column inches prior to the release of their 2004 debut album, with lead singer and guitarist Johnny Borrell (b. 4 April 1980, London, England) declaring his songwriting genius to anyone who would listen. Borrell formed Razorlight in summer 2002 with two Swedish-born musicians, Björn Ågren (b. Sweden; guitar) and Carl Dalemo (b. 12 December 1980, Lidköping, Sweden; bass), and fellow Englishman Christian Smith-Pancorvo (drums). The quartet built up a reputation on the London club circuit with their fiery live act and rudimentary grasp of the sound pioneered by 70s post-punk favourites Television. In November of the same year, they entered the famed analogue studio Toerag to record demos of three live favourites, "Rip It Up", "Rock 'N' Roll Lies" and "In The City". The resulting record company interest saw the quartet being courted by several major labels, and ultimately led to a recording contract with Vertigo Records. The band spent a frantic 2003 touring and recording material for their debut album. The strain began to show on drummer Smith-Pancorvo who announced he was leaving for health reasons in May 2004. Andy Burrows (b. 30 June 1979, Winchester, Hampshire, England) was brought in as a replacement shortly before the release of Razorlight's Top 5 debut album, Up All Night. While never managing to live up to the hype generated by Borrell and certain UK music critics, the material within certainly did a fair job of replicating the band's live sound, and featured impressive new recordings of "Rip It Up" and "In The City". The band also enjoyed UK hits with "Stumble And Fall", "Golden Touch" and "Vice".
High profile performances in 2005 at the Glastonbury Festival and Live 8 enhanced Razorlight's reputation, with a much bigger audience being able to view their powerful stage performance. A new track, "Somewhere Else", reached number 2 in the UK singles chart and was included on a reissued version of Up All Night. The band also recorded another new song, "Kirby's House", for the charity album Help: A Day In The Life. The band's self-titled second album was released in summer 2006, and despite some mixed reviews went stright to the top of the UK charts. One of the better tracks, "America", gave the quartet their first UK number 1 single later in the year.
