Selfish Hearts are, in the words of the admittedly slightly biased proprietor of the Royal Inn on the Park, Hackney, “one of East London’s finest bands”. Or, in the slightly less biased words of Time Out, in their preview of the first ‘Selfish Hearts Musical Revue’ in late-2007 - a Recommended gig of the week - a “noir-ish alt.country eight-piece”. Formed in London, UK in 2007, and having spent most of 2008 working on new songs / touring with other people / getting married, The Selfish Hearts returned to the stage in August 2008, ahead of embarking on a number of dates booked for later in the year, while getting on with recording some of their aforementioned new material with a view to releasing something properly in 2009. The Selfish Hearts are made up of Barry Newman on vocals and guitar, Steve Head (formerly of Ghosts and The Early Years) on guitar, Ian Thorn on piano/keyboards, James Hornsey and Mel Draisey of The Clientele (Mel also plays with people like Primal Scream, Le Volume Courbe and lots of others) on bass and violin respectively, and Annelise Angus on viola, as well as lots of guests who play with the band from time-to-time. And aside from all that, everyone sings and plays percussion and things too.