Review Fix Exclusive: The Darkness’ Frankie Poullain Talks Pinewood Smile

September 10, 2017 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Photo by Simon Emmett

Review Fix chats with The Darkness bassist Frankie Poullain, who discusses the band’s upcoming album, “Pinewood Smile,” which is set for an Oct. 6 release. One of the most talented bass players of our time, Poullain discusses the creative process behind the album and what he’s learned about himself through his time with the band.

About Pinewood Smile:

Written in Putney and recorded in Cornwall, England, Pinewood Smile was produced by Grammy Award-winning Adrian Bushby (Foo Fighters, Muse). The compositions have all the crucial elements of classic Darkness fare, but with added layers for the ears to peel away at…like a sonic onion, but a lot tastier. The album also features the drumming and vocal talents of gorgeous new band member Rufus Tiger Taylor, son of Queen legend Roger Taylor.

Review Fix: How was The Darkness’ forthcoming album Pinewood Smile born?

Frankie Poullain: The album was written in Inverness and Cornwall, the north and south of the UK, both locations on the coast. We wrote the songs together only this time our new drummer Rufus Taylor took an active part. He sings two duets on the album with Justin. They’re my two favourite tracks on the album: ‘Stampede of Love’ and ‘Why Don’t the Beautiful Cry?’.

Review Fix: What was it like working with producer Adrian Bushby?

Poullain: For someone who’s trademark is aggressive hard sounding riff heavy rock, he’s a surprisingly gentle and lovely human being. It’s often the way. We recorded the backing tracks live with Dan, Ru and I playing together separated by screens to capture energy and edge.

Review Fix: What makes this album different from the band’s previous records?

Poullain: A lot of the tracks are drum led, especially ‘Japanese Prisoner of Love’ and ‘Buccaneers of Hispaniola.’ The drums are very musical and expressive. And there are the duets featuring Justin and Ru canoodling together.

Review Fix: What is your favorite song on Pinewood Smile, and why?

Poullain: The aforementioned ‘Why Don’t the Beautiful Cry?’ – I love the lyrics and the blend of the two voices.

Review Fix: What would you say makes you different from other great bass players?

Poullain:I’m not great.

Review Fix: The Darkness has been through many ups and downs over the past two decades. What have you learned about yourself as person and as a musician?

Poullain: As a person: I’m a survivor. As a musician: I’m adaptable.

Review Fix: Why is the Brown Bastard an amazing piece of machinery?

Poullain: It’s had its neck broken four times and sounds better after every fix.

Review Fix: Speaking of which, how is your playing on this album different than before?

Poullain: It’s not really, it’s just there as a ballast. One could almost say I was having a ballast.

Review Fix: What new song would you say has the best story behind it? And what’s that story?

Poullain: ‘Stampede of Love’ – it’s a duet for an overweight couple in love. Justin takes the female part and gives Dolly Parton a run for her money. Ru sounds like a cross between Garth Brooks and Garth Crooks.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14316 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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