Reynolds, Righton and Taylor-Davies formed the band in New Cross, London, United Kingdom, in 2005 Their debut single, "Gravity's Rainbow" was released on 29 March 2006 as a 500 copies limited 7-inch vinyl, decorated by the band themselves. Their first first EP, Xan Valleys, was released on 16 October 2006, and contained their first two singles alongside some remixes.
Following the release of numerous 7-inch singles on different independent record labels, as well as the success of previous singles "Magick" and "Golden Skans", the band released their debut album, Myths of the Near Future on 29 January 2007. The album won the 2007 Nationwide Mercury Prize.
After headlining their first tour (the 2007 NME Indie Rave Tour), as well as playing numerous festivals and headlining tours worldwide, the band started working on their follow-up album in October 2007.
HMV describes Klaxons as "acid-rave sci-fi punk-funk", a phrase lifted directly from Tim Chester's Radar feature in NME, while their MySpace page touts 'Psychedelic / Progressive / Pop'. However, they are one of the isolated acts being referred to as 'Nu Rave', a genre term coined by Angular Records founder Joe Daniel, who released the trio's first single. Though the band's sound is decidedly art rock, they draw upon some less common influences - notably the rave culture of the 1990s, which they appropriate and redefine in a post-modern fashion. Their influences are perhaps most represented in their covers of rave hits "The Bouncer" by Kicks Like a Mule and "Not Over Yet" by Grace. Both tracks have since been released by the band, the first as part of a double a-side with "Gravity's Rainbow" in March 2006 and the latter as a single on June 25, 2007 titled "It's Not Over Yet".
While the band are consistently hailed as the defining act of the sparsely-populated Nu Rave movement, Klaxons have worked to avoid being typecast as champions of the disputed genre that may or may not exist. Indeed, it is questionable whether or not the style referred to as "New Rave" is even appreciably different from the older genre dance-punk. Even so, Klaxons member Jamie Reynolds expressed no regrets at the dubious honor, saying that "...it's great that it started as an in-joke and became a minor youth subculture"
Klaxons recorded a song All Rights Reversed with Chemical Brothers on their album We Are The Night(2007).
Isle of Her
Klaxons Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
We'll reach the isle of her
We'll find the peacock's tail
We'll steal the mother of pearl
Cyclops gazing alone
Facing mirrors that show
A reflection, his own
Face to face
A hand on each of the oars
A hand on each of the oars
We're seven miles from shore
Just keep on going
A hand on each of the oars
A hand on each of the oars
We're seven miles from shore
Just keep on going
[Incomprehensible]
[Incomprehensible]
[Incomprehensible]
[Incomprehensible]
A hand on each of the oars
A hand on each of the oars
We're seven miles from shore
Just keep on going
A hand on each of the oars
A hand on each of the oars
We're seven miles from shore
Just keep on going
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
We'll reach the isle of her
We'll find the peacock's tail
We'll steal the mother of pearl
We'll eat the dancing girls
Cyclops blazing alone
Facing mirrors that show
A reflection, his own
Face to face
Cyclops gazing alone
Face to face, face to face
Face to face, face to face
Face to face, face to face, face to face
The lyrics of Klaxons’ song “Isle of Her” tell a story of a journey toward a mythical island where the treasures include the peacock’s tail, the mother of pearl, and even dancing girls. The journey is treacherous, as they have to row through seven miles of rough waters to reach their destination. The repetition of the phrase “row, there’s only seven more miles to go” creates a sense of urgency and determination. The cyclops, a mythical one-eyed giant, is also mentioned, gazing alone and facing his own reflection in the mirrors. The repetition of “face to face” at the end of the song shows a confrontation or a meeting of sorts.
The song relies heavily on mythical and literary references, which is a recurring theme in the Klaxons music. The “isle of her” could be a reference to the island of the goddess Circe in Homer’s Odyssey. The peacock’s tail is a staple in Greek mythology, often associated with the goddess Hera. The mother of pearl and dancing girls could also be references to other tales and legends. The cyclops character could be drawn from various mythical sources, including the Odyssey and the works of Hesiod and Virgil.
Line by Line Meaning
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
We have only seven miles left to reach our destination.
We'll reach the isle of her
Our destination is the isle of her.
We'll find the peacock's tail
We will search and find the valuable peacock's tail.
We'll steal the mother of pearl
We will take the precious mother of pearl by force.
We'll eat the dancing girls
We will devour the girls who dance for us.
Cyclops gazing alone
A lonely Cyclops is staring at us.
Facing mirrors that show
The Cyclops is facing mirrors which reveal something to him.
A reflection, his own
The mirrors are showing the Cyclops his own reflection.
Face to face
The Cyclops is confronting us directly.
A hand on each of the oars
Two of us are rowing the boat with one hand on each oar.
We're seven miles from shore
We're seven miles away from the land.
Just keep on going
Keep rowing and don't stop.
[Incomprehensible]
Unintelligible lyric.
Cyclops blazing alone
The Cyclops is burning hot all by himself.
Face to face, face to face
We confront the Cyclops and he confronts us.
Face to face, face to face
We face the Cyclops again and again.
Face to face, face to face, face to face
We confront the Cyclops three times - a powerful and dangerous force.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JAMES NICHOLAS RIGHTON, JAMIE OLIVER JACK REYNOLDS, SIMON LEE CAMPBELL TAYLOR-DAVIES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@gabrielwillames
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
We'll reach the isle of her
We'll find the peacock's tail
We'll steal the mother of pearl
We'll eat the dancing girls
Cyclops gazing alone
Facing mirrors that show
A reflection, his own
Face to face
A hand on each of the oars
A hand on each of the oars
We're seven miles from shore
Just keep on going
A hand on each of the oars
A hand on each of the oars
We're seven miles from shore
Just keep on going
A hand on each of the oars
A hand on each of the oars
We're seven miles from shore
Just keep on going
A hand on each of the oars
A hand on each of the oars
We're seven miles from shore
Just keep on going
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
Row, there's only seven more miles to go
We'll reach the isle of her
We'll find the peacock's tail
We'll steal the mother of pearl
We'll eat the dancing girls
Cyclops blazing alone
Facing mirrors that show
A reflection, his own
Face to face
Cyclops gazing alone
Face to face, face to face
Face to face, face to face
Face to face, face to face, face to face
@vincehenriquez680
Great melodies and hooks these guys had for days. This and Surfing The Void are perfect albums.
@craigsimpson3901
Colossus of an album , cyclops energy , masterfully written album , the klaxons are exactly that, sounding off here with an album homer himself would of listened to while writing the odyssey, great band ,alongside there other albums the klaxons keep me pondering and using my imagination wisely,fantastic music ,thanks
@funkyfinger82
Me, Italian, trying to sing that song: “row, there’s oh seh moh mah to go” I can’t make the words fit 😅 anyway this song is AMAZING
@greenwater8096
"[Row!] ders-onli seh-vem mor-maious tu go!" would be a decent phonetic transcription for Italian I suppose! The sentence is said pretty fast and it can be quite tough to say if you have a thick Italian accent but hopefully with the transcription you are able to improve your pronunciation while singing and eventually say the sentence flawlessly. Spero che questo ti abbia aiutato!
@larrycreature7292
Man what the hell, how were they this good. I had a feeling they were ahead of the pack back in the day but listneing to the album now i know for sure.
@guiabramides
They were for sure
@gabrielwillames
klaxons!! good times
@raphaelserafim2467
Thats only AMAZING
@EMMmaximino
ohhhh weee ohhh HOOOOO
@glavington28
Great as songggg