4 Step was written at a time when we were feeling a little writer’s block. Cramming one too many ideas into a track, over-thinking the lyrics and the song structure. Sometimes nothing sticks. So 4 Step was written as a way of getting ‘back to basics’: picking just a handful of chords; using a really simple song structure.
The track’s swaggering and sensual feel meant it found a natural home on Marcus Liesenfeld’s Too Slow to Disco series alongside Poolside, Roosevelt and Satin Jackets – a few of our favourite acts. Not only is that series a fantastic collection of classic (and contemporary) pop song-writing of the smoothest and most sensual kind, but he has been a greater supporter of our band, right from the very start. We played one of our first shows in Berlin at a night he put on at Monarch, a venue rising out above Kottbusser Tor and where we met members of Parcels for the first time.
The release of 4 Step coincided with a very different type of party Marcus would invite us to…this time at Klunkerkranich, a venue overlooking Berlin’s Neukoelln district from the top of a massive shopping centre. It was a Christmas ‘do’. Marcus welcomed us to the stage with families sat together enjoying mulled wine. We performed some of our favourite tracks in a ‘lounge’ style. The show couldn’t have been more different to that at Monarch a few years prior, but just as memorable.