Johnny Borrell has commented on that photo, and the ridicule it garnered.

As you may remember, when Borrell presented the relaunched Razorlight to the world earlier this year, he did so by sending out a press photo that not only included three bandmates no one recognised, but one of them was wearing a crazy crazy hat. It certainly got people talking. And laughing.

But Borrell has told the News Of The World he didn’t mind the mockery, remarking:  “If people were laughing, then good! You shouldn’t change what people ridicule you for, because in reality it’s your strength”. So take that mockers.

Razorlight will play a show in London this summer. Where or when it will be they will not say, but you can buy tickets for it now. Meanwhile, Johnny Borrell has this to say about getting back to live performance: “The thing for me about London shows is that I just love doing them. I grew up in London and it’s my home and I think as a Londoner it always means something extra. London gigs have become homecoming gigs for the band and that’s probably one of the best things I’ve ever experienced”. To here the band talking more about the show, buy tickets to it, enter a competition to win a VIP package, go to www.razorlightlondon.com.

In these days where companies create content with a view to making it ‘go viral’, it’s always nice to see something genuinely capture the hearts and minds of internet users such that hundreds, thousands, even millions of them feel the need to share it.

This week, it was news of Razorlight’s return that was getting people (not millions, but certainly thousands) excited in this manner. Well, it wasn’t, it was more the press photo that accompanied the news. The fact that Razorlight will return this year with a new album, a headline slot at Guilfest (alongside James Blunt), and an almost entirely new line-up was over shadowed by a strange facial expression and a massive hat.

As far as I can tell, The Quietus takes the prize for putting the picture online first, postulating that the band had morphed into goth legends Fields Of The Nephilim. As the day drew on, it would be suggested that they were trying out for the next ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ movie, that Cotton Eye Joe’s frontman had been added to the line-up, and that Johnny Borrell had suffered a stroke.

The picture was reposted thousands of times on blogs, entertainment websites, and social networks, each time met with hilarity. I struggled all day to get anything done, as I fought the compulsion to go and stare at this amazing image one more time. I even missed a bus because of it.

In the end, Razorlight were forced to issue a statement on the matter. Yes, they told us, a photo of the band had been “leaked online”. Apparently I missed the memo where it was announced that “leaked online” had become shorthand for “was sent out to journalists by a PR company”. The statement also revealed that “founder members Bjorn Agren (guitar) and Carl Dalemo (bass) agreed on an amicable parting following unproductive early recording sessions for a new album late last year”.

Considering the metadata on the picture reveals that it was taken in October last year, that doesn’t leave much time for the two new members – Gus Robertson and Freddie Stitz – to have been recruited, which may also account for the awful styling. Though the biggest question of all still remains unanswered – whose idea was the hat?

So, that’s the main thing that happened this week. There were a few other minor things, too, which you’ll find linked to below and discussed on this week’s podcast. Filling what would otherwise be 35 minutes of silence on the latter this week is news and discussion on ACS:Law, The Pirate Bay, Vevo, Edgar Bronfman Jr, U2, Kings Of Leon, Courtney Love and more. As ever (well, as last week), I am joined by CMU Business Editor Chris Cooke to make the chat happen.

Andy Malt
Editor, CMU

THE BULLETIN: Click here to read this week’s CMU Weekly bulletin

THE PODCAST: Click here to download this week’s podcast, or stream below

So, a spokesman for Razorlight has responded to a new photo of the band which “leaked” (aka was emailed out by another PR company) onto the internet yesterday. The new shot of Johnny Borrell et al caused quite a stir on Twitter, partly because the band look like the cast of a Tim Burton remake of the ‘Grim Tales’, and partly because two of the band members didn’t look very familiar.

The spokesman last night confirmed that Razorlight recently parted company with two of its founding members, guitarist Bjorn Agren and bassist Carl Dalemo. They have been replaced by Gus Robertson and Freddie Stitz respectively. Skully, who replaced original Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows back in 2008, is still with the band.

The departure of two band members was, the spokesman says, amicable. Agren is producing and playing guitar with Lucy Rose, while Dalemo has a new band in development. Razorlight, meanwhile, will play various gigs this summer, including Guilfest on 16 Jul. No word on when the ‘Grim Tales’ movie will be released.