Words & Pictures: Adrian Hextall / (C) MindHex Media
They’re Unbelievable, Again
Thirty-five years after their acid-baggy anthems defined a generation, EMF are back, full-time, and more political than ever. James Atkin and Ian Dench talk quitting the day jobs, taking on Trump, and the $0 video that sealed their comeback.
The phrase “full-time proposition” hangs in the air. For a band like EMF, a group synonymous with a single, supernova explosion of fame in 1991, “full-time” sounds less like a career move and more like a threat. Bands of their era “reform.” They play festivals, tour the hits, and retreat to their comfortable civilian lives. They don’t, as a rule, start again.
And yet, here we are. EMF are, once more, a real, working, album-releasing, US-touring, full-time band.
The commitment is best personified by frontman James Atkin. When I catch up with him and guitarist/songwriter-for-the-
“I was a school teacher for many years,” Atkin says, a note of disbelief still in his voice. “And it was only October that I gave it up. We were doing loads and loads of tours, and I just had to work around holidays, turning stuff down. It was like, ‘Ah, life’s running out. We need to get out there and do this stuff!'”
He admits to missing the kids. “I used to get a real buzz from it,” he says, before pausing. “But I don’t regret getting out. A Monday morning in front of a class of 30 kids is pretty fucking terrifying. But once you’ve faced 30 14-year-olds… you know…”
He trails off, but the implication is clear: a roaring festival crowd has nothing on a Year 9 class after lunch. “I think it’s put me in good stead for what I’m doing now,” he laughs. “It’s sorted me out a little bit.”
For Dench, the return meant leaving a different kind of grind. For decades, he’s been one of pop’s most successful backroom boys, penning massive hits for the likes of Beyoncé and Shakira. It was, he confesses, wearing thin.
“I was the bridesmaid, never the bride, right?” Dench says wryly. “And I missed it. I missed James. I spent all that time writing big, big records, and stuff, but it just felt too corporate. I think my whole life, I’ve only done good stuff when I love it with people I love. It was starting to wear on me, and I was thinking, ‘What am I missing?'”
What he was missing, it turns out, was his oldest musical partner. “James and I have always written occasionally over the years,” he continues. “There are no expectations. The thing about James and I is that, in the first place, we sat down at my mum’s piano and we just loved the music.”
He references a “Mixing Manifesto” cassette they’re selling on the merch stand; a mixtape of the songs they both loved back in 1989 when they first started. “It was about the music. We didn’t do it because we were like, ‘Oh, we’re going to be a big band.’ And I think the whole ‘overnight success’ thing… whoa. That had its impact on us. It messes with how you are every day. It’s only over years of doing other stuff that we’re like, ‘Oh, actually, we just love music.'”
That rediscovered love has been prolific. First came 2022’s Go Go Sapiens, their first album in 27 years, which recaptured their signature blend of dancefloor energy and guitar-pop smarts. That was followed by 2024’s The Beauty and the Chaos, and the brace of releases saw Adrian Todd firmly proving his worth as the band’s full time drummer.
Now, they’re back with a new EP, Reach For Something Higher, and for the first time in their career, the songs were forged not in a studio, but on the road.
“I think going out on the road, specifically America, we played the songs live. So when we went into the studio… that’s the thing we hadn’t done for ages,” explains Atkin. “These songs were already formed and had the energy.”
“It’s something we’ve never done before,” Dench adds. “Everything else was always slightly manicured and slightly electronic. The EP is just very natural and they’re live performances.”
American Idiot
The US tour Atkin mentions wasn’t just a chance to road-test new material. It was a catalyst. The entire EP, it transpires, is a direct response to their time touring America in its current, fractured state.
For a band whose first US tour was a Number One-single-fueled blur of airports and TV studios, this recent trip was a revelation.
“I can’t remember it back in the day,” Atkin admits. “I’ve only been really nervous all the time. I was 21… it was a lot. And talk about pressure.”
“I must say, I enjoyed our tour in May more than any tour we’ve ever done in the States,” Dench beams. “The first couple we’d flown over, and then we did them on the night-liner bus. You’d have a party on the bus, you’d crash out, and you’d wake up in front of the venue. You didn’t really see where you were or enjoy the country. This time, there were some like 13-hour drives. And I dreaded it. But it was actually wonderful. We got to spend some time together. We had a laugh, we had a chat.”
The rock-and-roll lifestyle has also, mercifully, calmed down. “These days, the rider says it all,” Dench laughs. “It’s like oat milk, tea bags, and some vegan snacks. Back in the day, it was lots of booze and all sorts of other things. It was all about the playing. And we played great gigs.”
But they didn’t just play gigs. They looked. They landed in San Jose the day of the “No Kings” protests. “We went on the march,” says Dench. “It was wonderful. Thousands of people peacefully protesting. Rainbow flags everywhere. So we got this sense that there is hope. You got a sense that people had the will for positive change and had the courage to speak truth to power. The EP is a response to that. The songs were sorted for America, really.”
The most potent response is the EP’s lead single, “LGBTQ+ lover.” It’s an anthemic, defiant track that began as a discussion about allyship.
“We had a discussion about whether we should say we’re ‘straight allies,'” Dench recalls. “I didn’t want to put a disclaimer out there. But a friend of mine who’s involved in that business said, ‘You need to be clear, because otherwise it looks a bit like pink-washing, like you’re trying to get on the pink-pound.’ I think it’s right to be clear. But it’s just… why does anybody think that’s a problem? I just don’t get that.”
The song’s power was affirmed for Atkin during a meet-and-greet in Liverpool. “A fan came up to me and said, ‘Thank you for doing this.’ They said, ‘My teenage son is having a really hard time at school at the moment. He’s getting bullied. And just the fact that you did this is wonderful for him.’ Their daughter was there, and she was just like, ‘You don’t know what this means.’ And that’s not the only one.”
“People are feeling increasingly unsafe,” says Dench, his voice hardening. “So I’m just going to stand up and say, ‘Cut the crap.’ We’re in a position to do that.”
The track features a spoken-word sample: “We will do all we can to protect… our LGBTQ community.” The voice is heavily processed, robotic, and strangely familiar.
I ask who it is. Dench grins. “Trump.”
Donald Trump?
“Yeah, so it’s Trump,” he says, clearly pleased with the subversive trick. I think that came from something where he was accusing immigrants of attacking the LGBTQ community. So, I mean, it’s completely ironic, you know? And then he went on to limit gay rights. He says it one moment and he doesn’t another moment. It just felt like a perfect example to use.”
They’re bracing for the inevitable backlash, “There’s a lot of hate out there,” Atkin notes, but they’re buoyed by their fanbase. “They’ll be the ones that will carry the wave of positivity,” he says.
“We were driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas,” Atkin explains. “En-route, there was a disused, abandoned water park. We had a really good friend… we jumped out of the van. It was so hot. Set the drums up there, set the bass up… he went back and did the drums… and it took about an hour. An amazing video came out of it. This was the easiest thing…”
“The guy is really good,” Dench chips in. “He’s a friend who works out there for… <crackle…fizz…audio blip>.” He coughs. “Or, works out on the West Coast of the US, anyway.”
“We were driving to Utah,” Atkin says. “And we had a discussion, going, ‘You know, it’s not a progressive state, quite sort of right-wing, isn’t it?’ Salt Lake City. But we turned up and there was a massive LGBTQ flag on the venue. And people loved it. A really good response. A few people walked away, but… it was going to upset someone.”
Hedgehogs, Hangovers, and the Future
While the band is firing on all cylinders, there’s one notable absence. Keyboardist and founding member Derry Brownson has been sidelined with health issues, and he’s clearly missed.
“I spoke to him last night,” James says, his tone softening. “He’s gutted that he’s not doing it, but he just needs to get well enough. So hopefully, Bristol [the final show of the tour], fingers crossed. He knows there’s a lot of love out there for him.”
They try to pass on the goodwill messages from fans, but it’s complicated by Derry’s other passions. “I said to him, ‘Did you see the love for you on Facebook?’ He’s like, ‘No… persona non grata.’ He’s really into caring for hedgehogs. And any anti-hunt stuff. And so it gets a bit vicious on his posts, and he gets banned from Facebook. So we have to pass it all on!”
The new EP is rounded out by a demo of “The Day the Music Died” and, in classic EMF fashion, a cover. This time, it’s a thumping, “loved up” mix of Depeche Mode’s “Just Can’t Get Enough.” This commitment to the remix is an EMF staple, a throwback to the days of buying three CD singles for all the B-sides.
“James does 6-minute songs,” laughs Ian. “I have to, occasionally, after them, off the lead! Just do six minutes.” The CD version of the EP features seven tracks, including a “Frankie Mix” of “LGBTQ+ lover.” “There’s this guy, Simon Ellis, who I worked with,” Dench explains. “He was the actual guy who did S Club 7 stuff… but he said he was like a frantic Frankie Goes to Hollywood fan. So that’s why he called it the ‘Frankie’ mix.”
With a new EP out and a full tour schedule, it feels like this “second coming” is building momentum for something. “Album 3,” as they call it, is already in the works for 2026.
“We’ve got the songs written,” Atkin confirms. “We’ve got some dates booked in the church where we did the EP, in Crouch End.”
“It’s a lovely studio,” Dench adds, leaning in with a conspiratorial whisper. “It has the actual mic that Adele sang ‘Hello’ on. Really. It’s like, you want it to be true, isn’t it?”
Before I let them go, I have to ask about a lyric that has suddenly, belatedly, clicked in my head. From their 2022 comeback track “21st Century”: Can’t get over it. Can’t get under it. Got to go through it.
Is that… We’re Going on a Bear Hunt?
They both erupt in laughter. “It is!” Dench confesses. “It is word for word. But it’s all the kids’ books! What’s the Time, Mr. Fox?, Paddington… it’s because we all have kids.”
“I thought it was about a come-down from after having a big night out,” Atkin muses.
“It is about come-downs!” Dench insists, painting a perfect picture of the 21st-century raver. “You’ve got kids. And you want to go out, but it’s like… you remember the 90s and how wonderful it was. But now you’ve got to read the story, and you’ve got to get up on Saturday morning. You wake up in the 21st century and you’re like, ‘Fuck… here you are.’ Reading the kids’ books and you remember raving. You’ve got a hangover just the same, but you’ve got to get on and look after your kids. Read them We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.”
Atkin nods sagely. “And the hangover is so much worse.”
It’s the perfect metaphor for the new EMF. They’re older, wiser, and carrying the baggage of parenthood and real-world responsibilities. But the beat remains, the energy is undeniable, and this time, they’re wide-awake and seeing the country properly. They’re not running from the hangover; they’re getting up and getting on with it.
THE LOWDOWN
Current Band Members:
James Atkin (Vocals, Guitar)
Ian Dench (Guitar, Keyboards)
Derry Brownson (Keyboards, Samples)
Stevey Marsh (Bass)
Adrian Todd (Drums)
Studio Album Discography:
Schubert Dip (1991)
Stigma (1992)
Cha Cha Cha (1995)
Go Go Sapiens (2022)
The Beauty and the Chaos (2024)
New EP:
Reach For Something Higher (2025)
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