“I love the music world too much to reform Felt”
“A MORE serious name for serious times,” says Lawrence, explaining the recent switch from Go-Kart Mozart to Mozart Estate as he shuffles into the Barbican with his takeaway cuppa. “I love novelty records but I wanted to hit a bit harder this time.” Indeed, there’s a more prominent seam of mordant social commentary on his latest effort, as well as an unexpected dalliance with what he calls “singer-songwriter stuff”, not heard since the final days of Felt. But the album still has a defiantly daft title – Pop-Up! Ker-Ching! And The Possibilities Of Modern Shopping – and kicks off with a song called “I’m Gonna Wiggle”.
“Everyone’s done a wiggle song,” he protests. “Lou Reed’s done one, Bob Dylan’s done one.” Touché! There are other signs, too, that this eternally thwarted dreamer is starting to get real. Although he still doesn’t own a computer or a smartphone, Lawrence has recently launched a webstore and a Twitter account. He seems to have reluctantly accepted the benefits of communing
